Abstract:

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is the general term for the range of processes and activities that employ computers in the teaching and learning of a new language. CALL has significantly changed over the years. It started in the 1950s and developed through the 1970s as Structural/Behaviorist CALL (an example of this are the “listen-and-repeat” programs running in language labs at that time). The 1980s and 1990s saw the emergence of Communicative CALL, which was a reaction to the Grammar-Translation and Audiolingual methods wherein the drills of the structural approach were replaced by the skills of the communicative approach. Since 2000, however, the so-called Integrative CALL has blended the virtues of the previous decades into a technology that concurrently develops speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in the comfort of one’s private space and schedule.

Technology is a powerful way of grabbing students’ attention and really tuning their minds into their language lessons. It can be used in foreign language teaching (FLT) to teach, practice, reinforce and test the language alongside with traditional teaching techniques. The COVID pandemic of 2020, however, made technology the only option for primary, secondary and higher educational systems to survive during the lockdown and continue to conduct classes, exams and admission procedures.

Thus, the aim of this paper is to review the outcomes of the transfer to CALL during the COVID-19 lockdown for both students and educators and to consider ways in which this experience can be used to maximize the benefit when integrating online activities into traditional classrooms.

Keywords:

CALL, COVID-19, online learning, distance learning.