Computers as Teachers

Computers are part of our lives for a long time now. We don’t use them only for our daily life activities, but also for learning. When we talk about language learning in particular, it is called Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). In this post, we’ll see the history of CALL.

The Brown Corpust of Standard American English, which was the first electronic corpus, was developed in the 1960s. In this period, the programs wanted the learners to choose one of two answers. In the 1960s and 1970s,  Behavioristic Approach was dominant, programs were based on drill and practice. In the 1980s, learner interaction was made possibile with the challange of Communicative Approach against the Behavioristic Approach. In the 1990s, the aim was to help students to become active learners.

This is a little bit of the history of CALL. It has changed a lot. We’ll see what will happen in the future. So, to be continued…