emilychen
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What language skills should computers be used to develop?
Now you have read many language learning theories and principles and you have seen how computers can be used in various ways to enhance language learning of four skills. Based on your learning experience, in which language skill(s) do you think computers can offer the most support for students to learn a second language? Or, do you think computers should be used in the class where the four language skills are equally emphasized and integrated? Please explain your reasons.
Note: Groups 1 and 2 are required to answer this question.
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11/17/2004, 7:36 pm
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Kathywang
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 Group 2's reply
Based on our learning experience, we think that computer can offer most support in enhancing listening skill for students to learn a second language. For listening, students can repeatedly listen to the comprehensible input as many times as they want until they are familiar with the content. Computer can patiently repeat again and again while a real teacher can not, which is an advantage of using computers to support students’ listening skill.
As listening to comprehensible input, students can also practice their pronunciation and fluency by repeating what they just heard (Perhaps they can read script when they repeat after computer). But there is a barrier to improve pronunciation: the computer cannot tell us exactly what problem our pronunciation is. It may give us evaluation just like My ET does, but it is not objective.
For reading, we agree that there are thousands of websites providing both great quality and quantity of available materials, but the problem is that we don’t want to stare at the monitor for a long time. Tiring eyes may lower our learning motivation; we’d rather read textbooks. Therefore, we consider computer and Internet a good resource for searching information rather than reading helper.
For writing, as we know, My access can only give general evaluation and give advice about how to write a good essay. But it doesn’t point out where our problem is. That’s a real teacher can do, and we can negotiate with teacher what we plan to write in the essay but fail to express, so that the teacher can assist us to revise and improve our writing. Although the software 英語寫作魔法師 provide sentence-level structure practicing, we still think it does not benefit students a lot whenever students encounter a confusion of grammar rules.
Overall, we consider students get support in improving listening skill via computer the most than other three skills. 
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11/19/2004, 1:16 pm
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Vita
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 Group 1
As far as we are concerned, the computer technology can be best used in teaching students reading skills for the following reasons.
First of all, unlike learning from human teachers, via well-design call program, students can choose which material they want to learn in accordance with their level or interest and then easily absorb these so-called comprehensive inputs.
Moreover, there is no time and space limit for them while reading. It can lower students’ anxiety (because they are not looked at by the teacher) and enhance their motivations (because they read what they are interested in.)
Traditionally, in reading class teacher may ask students to read articles in a short time and then give them a test referring to what they have just read. During the test, having nothing to do, teacher may walk around the students back and forth, which always interferes students and makes them read at high pressure. After the class, teacher goes back to grade these papers. As to students, they learn merely nothing from the test.
As to other three skills, we deem that humans can do a better job than computers do. Although now many call programs can offer some interactive activities for learners, they still can not replace humans. For instance, in speaking, learner can adjust their language use and revise their speech while talking with human interlocutors. In contrast, computer only gives some fixed answers which may bore the learners.
Besides, learners can hear different accents from different interlocutors and can speak with accent. Yet, to most CALL programs, they may accept only one accent (either American or English one.) On the ground, they may give lower grades to learners’ pronunciation which differs from theirs.
At last, we think it is almost out of the question that four language skills can be equally emphasized and integrated in the class, not to speak of using computers because teachers may sometimes focus on this skill and sometimes focus on others, or we would not have learned them separately in the school.
In short, we hold that let computers to teach students reading skills; as to other skills, leave them to humans.
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11/21/2004, 10:13 pm
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