Kern & Warschauer

Kern & Warschauer (2000)
Theory and practice of network-based language teaching
Key concepts

Ø NBLT (network-based language teaching) is language teaching that involves the use of computers connected to one another in either local or global networks. Whereas CALL (computer-assisted language learning) has traditionally been associated with self-contained, programmed applications such as tutorials, drills, simulations, instructional games, tests, and so on, NBLT represents a new and different side of CALL, where human-to-human communication is the focus.
Ø The computer, like any technological tools used in teaching (e.g., pencils and paper, blackboard, overhead projectors, tape recorders), does not in and of itself bring about improvements in learning. We must look for particular practices of use in particular contexts.
Ø Perspectives on language learning and teaching
※Structural perspective:
* The grammar-translation method (1920 ~ )
* The audiolingual method (1940s ~ 1950s)
* Contrastive rhetoric between the native and target languages (1960 ~)
◎ the role of CALL – To provide unlimited drill, practice, tutorial explanation, and corrective feedback.
※Cognitive/constructivist perspective:
* Transformational-generative grammar à to fostering learner’s mental construction of a second language system (Chomsky, 1957;1965)
* Providing comprehensible input à to give individuals an opportunity to mentally construct the grammar from extreme natural data (Krashen,1982)
* Cognitive strategies of reading à top-down (e.g., using schematic knowledge) and bottom-up (e.g., using individual word clues)
◎ the role of CALL – To provide language input and analytic and inferential tasks.
※Sociocognitive perspective:
* Language is not just a private, “in the head” affair, but rather a socially constructed phenomenon.
* Communicative competence (Hymes, 1971) V.S. linguistic competence (Chomsky)
* Three principal functions of language use (Halliday) – Ideational function (i.e., to express content); Interpersonal function (i.e., to maintain social relations); Textual function (i.e., to create situationally relevant discourse.)
* Content-based learning
◎ the role of CALL – To provide alternative contexts for social interaction; to facilitate access to existing discourse communities and the creation of new ones.