Computers and language learning: an overview

Recent years have shown an explosion of interest in using computers for language teaching and learning. A decade ago, the use of computers in the language classroom was of concern only to a small number of specialists. However, with the advent of multimedia computing and the Internet, the role of computers in language instruction has now become an important issue confronting large numbers of language teachers throughout the world. This article will provide an overview of current teaching practices and research related to the uses of computers in the language classroom. It will be divided into four main parts: (1) a brief history of computer-assisted language learning (CALL), (2) a survey of current practices and research, (3) a prospectus toward the 21st century, and (4) a list of resources for further information.