Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

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Thus, this study aimed to assess whether the employed VALRM can improve learners’ listening comprehension by giving them more right of decision making.

Moreover, with the assistance of annotation in the VALRM, learners can replay the sections they are not clear with anytime without distracted by having no time to process the text.

2.2 Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

Developing an effective listening instruction strategy is essential in language teaching. Owing to technological advancements, Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has emerged as a prominent approach to enhancing language learning (Almekhlafi, 2006).

Although computers have been used in various fields since the 1940s, they were not used for educational purposes until the 1960s (Warschauer & Healey, 1998). Since the 1960s, the use of computers for language-learning purposes has grown increasingly for its diversity and potential for individualizing instruction; gradually, CALL has a significant place in language teaching (Dhalf, 1989; Chapelle, 1990).

2.2.1 The Use of CALL in Listening

In decades, teaching and learning foreign languages with the assistance of

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computers have gained popularity (Gündüz, 2005). Many highly developed countries have adopted CALL in language instruction and applied it to enhancing different language skills, including listening (Gündüz, 2005). Several studies (Yang, 2010;

Chiu, 2007; O’brien, & Hegelheimer, 2007; Kon, 2002) have confirmed the effectiveness of CALL in listening and paid attention to the development of it. The research findings of several studies associated with CALL in listening are

summarized in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2 Summary of studies associated with CALL in listening Researcher Participants Summary of the Findings

Yang, 2010

80 college students

1. The experimental group using the online program did produce significantly improved scores in their English listening outcome over the control group.

2. The experimental group had high attitude toward

1. Listening practice in the CALL setting was found to be more effective than in the traditional setting.

2. The effects of listening strategy instruction and CALL were more significant for English high-proficiency participants than low-proficiency participants.

3. Participants held positive attitudes toward CALL in enhancing their listening abilities.

O’brien, &

1. The podcasts have allowed the instructor to extend class time.

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types of spoken English.

Kon, 2002

24 students in

an ESL

Listening course

The visual aspect of the CALL activity increases subjects' chances of incidental vocabulary acquisition and listening comprehension.

Table 2.2 shows that the effects of the use of CALL on enhancing learners’

listening skills are effective. In addition, learners’ attitude toward CALL is relatively

positive. Furthermore, learners have more time to practice listening strategies they acquired in class after class. They also thereby have more chances to explore to different types of spoken English by using CALL to study.

Thus, this study aimed to assess whether the VALRM, a computer-assisted listening review mechanism, can improve learners’ listening comprehension, and to

figure out what types of learners can benefit the most from the implementation of the VALRM.

2.2.2 The Effects of Captions on Listening Comprehension

Many English learning systems provide captions or subtitles to help learners understand the learning content (Hsu, 2015). The provision of captions or subtitles enhances not only listening competence but also reading ability; in addition, the load of the learners during the learning process can also be eased (Hsu, Hwang & Chang, 2014). Listeners are less anxious and stressed with the help of captions or subtitles.

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Restated, many studies indicated that listening with simultaneous subtitled text is more effective, in contrast to listening with auditory materials only. However, some researchers argued that relying on captions or subtitles is detrimental to listening acquisition (Latifi, Mobalegh, & Mohammadi, 2011). Diao, Chandler and Sweller (2007) indicated that learners learned listening with the presence of subtitles had poor performance on the subsequent listening test than those listrning with the auditory materials only. According to their research findings, they assumed the subtitles

interfered with the “the construction and automation of listening comprehension schemas”. Chang and Lei’ study (2004) echoed the unnecessary of subtitles during performing listening practice. Chang and Lei also pointed out that “adding the text is

not beneficial to scheme construction of long-term memory”, which accords with the perspective of Piaget’s schema theory (1928) in which Piaget emphasized new

information must be organized before it interconnects with other schemes.

Table 2.3 summarizes several empirical studies on the effects of captions on

listening comprehension (Yang & Chang, 2014; Başaran & Köse, 2013; Leveridge &

Yang, 2013; Markham, 2001; Huang & Eskey, 1999; Ogasawara, 1994).

Table 2.3 Summary of empirical studies on the effects of captions on listening comprehension

Researcher Participants Summary of the Findings Yang &

Chang, 2014

44 EFL

university

This study proposed three modes of captions: full, keyword-only, and annotated keyword captions and

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students investigates their contribution to the learning of reduced forms and overall listening comprehension.

The results revealed that the annotated keyword caption group exhibited the best performance with the highest mean score. listening comprehension of EFL learners. The results showed the students in all three conditions performed similarly on the listening comprehension test.

Learners’ reliance on captions varied individually and lower-level achievers relied on captions for listening comprehension more than their high-level counterparts, indicating that learners at various comprehension levels required different degrees of caption support.

The religion-neutral students performed at a higher level after being exposed to captioned versions of

The results of the research showed that the effects of closed-captioned TV helped ESL students’ general comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and listening comprehension.

Ogasawara, 1994

EFL university students

The results suggested that fully captioned videos were much more effective than partially captioned or non-captioned videos if they were used over the long term such as at least one semester.

Table 2.3 shows the effectiveness of captions on listening comprehension was influenced by many factors and was mostly positive. Therefore, in this study, the usage of captions was decided by both the experimental group and control group.

Participants could choose whether to use captions or not when doing listening

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practice.

2.2.3 Teachers’ Role in CALL

While the prevalence and importance of CALL is continually emphasized by numerous studies, it is important to know that technology is only the tool we use rather than the answer to all problems (Lee, 2000). Dhaif (1989) and Lee (2000) indicated that computers would never replace the teacher. That is, computers itself cannot design or provide the instruction for learners without the wisdom of teachers.

As Gündüz, (2005) indicated that the teacher can decided the proportion of the usage of computers in the course, and thereby still had a prominent place in his/her classes. Therefore, teachers who would like to provide learners with better instruction need to know CALL well and make good use of it, rather than resisting it.