CALL TYPOLOGY
In the 1980’s when CALL began to reach a wider audience, a number of efforts to
classify CALL programs were made. There are going to be presented different
attempts to classify CALL programs, phases of call and approaches to CALL.
3.1 Davies & Higgins (1985)
Identified the following types of CALL programs:
-Gap-filling exercises. -Multiple-choice exercises. -Free-format exercises: CLEF
-Tutorial programs: CLEF. -Re-ordering: Word Sequencing. –Simulations.
-Montevidisco interactive videodisc. -Text mazes. –Games. -Writing - Word-
processing.
3.2 Jones & Fortescue (1987)
This is the list of types of CALL programs identified by Jones & Fortescue (1987):
Grammar: Matchmaster, Choicemaster, Testmaster Vocabulary Reading skills:
Authoring programs: (now known as The Authoring Suite) Writing - Listening skills:
Getting the Message interactive videodisc
Information source Discovery and exploration.
3.3 Hardisty & Windeatt (1989)
Drew up this simpler classification of four basic types of CALL programs:
School programs: exercises involving gap-filling, multiple-choice, sequencing,
matching, total text reconstruction. Office programs: word-processing, database,
DTP, communications, spreadsheets. Library programs: concordancers - and they
would probably have included the Web if it had been around at the time.
3.4 Warschauer (1996), Warschauer & Healey (1998)
They took a different approach, identifying three phases of CALL, classified
according to their underlying pedagogical and methodological approaches:
Behaviouristic CALL: the computer played the role of tutor, serving mainly as a
vehicle for delivering instructional materials to the learner. Drill-and-practice
programs were a prominent feature of this phase.
Communicative CALL: In this phase, which became prominent in the 1970s and
1980s, the computer continued to be used as a vehicle for practising language
skills, but in a non-drill format and with a greater degree of student choice, control
and interaction. This phase included:
Using the computer to stimulate discussion, writing and critical thinking.
Using the computer as a tool or workhorse.
Integrative CALL: This phase was marked by the introduction of two important
innovations:
1. Multimedia: Multimedia CALL began to make an impact in the late 1980s
and was well established by the mid-1990s. The introduction of multimedia CALL
meant that reading, writing, speaking and listening could be combined in a single
activity, with the learner exercising a high degree of control over the path that
he/she follows through the learning materials. See Module 2.2, Introduction to
multimedia CALL.
2. The Internet. The earliest public manifestation of the Internet was in the
1970s, but it did not make a significant impact on CALL until the arrival of the
World Wide Web in 1993. The Internet, especially the Web (which is a subset of
the Internet), brought numerous advantages, building on multimedia technology
and in addition enabling both asynchronous and synchronous communication
between learners and teachers.
3.5 Levy (1997)
Analyzed the results of a comprehensive CALL Survey which he carried out
among authors of CALL materials in order to determine what kinds of conceptual
frameworks lay behind their work. The CALL Survey was concluded in early 1991,
which followed the boom period in CALL in the 1980s and pre-dated the advent of
the Web in 1993. There was strong support among Levy's respondents for the
communicative approach to language teaching and task-based learning, but a
substantial number also favored formal grammar instruction. On the whole,
however, most respondents declared their approach to be eclectic. As for the role
of the computer in CALL, most respondents favored a non-directive role, with very
few supporting the idea of the computer replacing the teacher.
