Abstract:

Learning a language can be a daunting task especially if a learner has acquired his/her first language. In second or foreign language learning (L2 or FL), an effective learning strategy can contribute very much to one’s success. Hence, computer assisted language learning (CALL) materials could be used in teaching to facilitate the language learning process. CALL encompasses broad range of information and communication technology applications and approaches. CALL materials are useful for two reasons; they are focused on learning rather than instruction or teaching and student-centered which enables a learner to learn at his/her pace. The four skills covered by CALL are listening, speaking, reading and writing. There are evidences in the literature that CALL has performed well in promoting three skills; listening, speaking and reading while substantial gains have not been made in writing skill. CALL, like other educational software that is computer software has the potential to facilitate, accelerate, motivate and deepen skills in language learning. This study therefore examined the level of adoption of CALL among secondary students in Nigeria. The study covered two geopolitical zones (North-central and South-west) in Nigeria. Four states were randomly selected; two from each zone. The states are Kogi and kwara from North-central, Lagos and Ogun from South west. Eight secondary schools from each of the states participated in this study. A total of thirty two secondary schools were selected. Twenty students were selected from each of the thirty-two schools (371 girls (58%), 269 boys (42%)). The ages of the participants range from 12-18years with mean age of 14.63years and standard deviation of 2.08. All the participants had English language as one of their subjects while 23% had French language in addition. CALL Adoption Questionnaire (CAQ) was designed and used to measure adoption. Four research questions were raised and answered. The findings revealed that only 147 students representing 23% adopt CALL applications in their language learning activities. The factors that promote the adoption of CALL include; educational qualification of fathers, type of school, peer influence and class of students. The study concluded that the adoption of CALL is low among secondary school students and recommended that parents, government and proprietors of private schools should procure and enforce the use of CALL in our secondary schools to reduce abysmal failure rate in English and French languages.

Keywords:

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), learning, language, e-learning.