I am researching for my personal graduate study and thesis on the comparison of Spanish curriculum as it is taught in Hispanic countries, as well as in Indiana. Today, I'm reading a book that I found very helpful in my research, but was also pleasantly surprised to find a whole chapter dedicated to CALL. The book is called "The Art of Teaching Spanish", edited by Salaberry & Lafford. The chapter is 7.0 Online Language Learning: The Case of Spanish Without Walls. Below is the link to purchase the book. It is also in the IU Wells Library. Also below is a couple of excerpts taken from the introduction to give an idea of what the research looks like:
Blake & Delforge
“Two factors dominate the recent interest in distance learning courses for foreign langauges: (1) their potential to make language education available to those who cannot attend traditional classes because of time constraints or geographical location, and (2) their capacity to provide increased access for the study of less commonly taught languages” (127).
“Recent innovations in computer technology, however, which include multimedia computer-assisted language learning (CALL) materials as well as the available of systems capable of supporting computer-mediated communication, make it possible for participants in online courses to engage in the active construction of L2 knowledge and to interact with one another in ways considered conducive to language learning” (127).
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Teaching-Spanish-Language-Acquisition/dp/1589011333/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435081385&sr=1-1&keywords=the+art+of+teaching+spanish
I'm excited to incorporate this into my own research, and it's great that I get to use this in both areas of my graduate work with coincidentally taking this CALL course over the summer. What a gem of an opportunity!
Has anyone else found helpful resources?
Hi Lindsey: This sounds like a really interesting chapter. It's difficult to imagine learning a language only through computers since so much of language learning is through context, body language and negotiation of meaning, but it is clearly possible, at least until you can get to a classroom or the target language country!
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