The Application of CALL in Promoting English Listening Skills in College

劉良

【Abstract】English language teaching and learning has witnessed a fast development in recent years. With the development of technology， Computer-assisted Language Learning （CALL） has played a more and more vital role in the second language teaching and learning. It is an important part of Computer-Assisted Instruction （CAI）. In the setting of classroom， especially in college， multimedia teaching seems to be accepted and applied widely （Brown， 2013）. On the other hand， listening as one of the basic and essential competence skills has been highly valued by more teachers and educators. English teachers know that ESL （English as Second Language） learners need to often practice English listening skills to be successful in their other academic classes and to function as literate people in a global environment （Brown， 2013）.

【Key words】English Listening Skills; CALL in Promoting

1. Introduction

English listening is an important language skill students need to develop in the learning of foreign languages. In the traditional teaching form， the tape are played by the teacher， students listen to the tape， and do the comprehension exercises， the teacher give ‘right answers as feedback. This course provides students the opportunity to listen to but not for teaching listening skills. Although students and English teachers spent a lot of efforts to improve students listening ability， the result seems to be pretty disappointing. What is more， a number of students reflect that listening is the most challenging part. As Hulstijn （2003） points out， listening is not an easy undertaking， because listening is also the least explicit of the four skills.

Linguists and college English teachers have found that though students have passed the national college entrance examination， they can still hardly adjust to college English learning because their listening， speaking， and other language skills have a long way to go to what is required. It is obvious that for certain reasons English teaching in the primary school and middle school have not lived up to the expectations of teachers and students successfully. Therefore， the effectiveness of computer technologies for improving students English listening comprehension ability needs to be evaluated.

2. Literature Review

Computer-Assisted Language Learning， refers to the format of using a computer in teaching or learning foreign language. Since 1960s， CALL has undertaken wide-ranging applications to language teaching and learning from the traditional drill-and-practice software programs to more recent Web-based distance learning， which allows learners flexible， self-paced access to information （Fotos & Browne， 2004）. CALL activities can slow down the process， capture the oral language in text， and show word boundaries. It shows great advantages compared with traditional record. Because CALL has a greater potential for good learner fit than other materials （Chapelle， 2001）. Nachoua （2012） made a study aims to prove the use of CALL is an effective method to increase students motivation and give a better performance in listening. The same as expected， the results showed that CALL can inspire students motivation and computers are available tools to be used in second language classrooms to develop students listening ability. Generally speaking， CALL has a positive effect on developing learners English listening ability.

Bax （2003） recognized that for CALL can be used as a teaching tool to be invisible. Technology can make changes in so many aspects， such as attitudes， approaches， practice and interaction between teachers and students in the environment of classroom. Next he suggested to blend CALL activities with target courses as one key point to make great progress in teaching second language and he further claimed that such integration needed to be studied in depth， relying on more reliable and credible quantitative researches. Hassina （2012） investigated the effect of CALL on enhancing students motivation to develop their performance in listening. The scores of experimental group were significant higher than control group. Furthermore， the results suggested that CALL has a positive effect on increasing learners motivation and most students are support for CALL. According to this study， CALL can used to be a powerful tool to apply in second language teaching and learning.

Smidt and Hegelheimer （2004） developed a study on examining how Web-based video assists English listening comprehension. The results came to the conclusion that the materials or lectures based on CALL not only can arouse learners interests but also enhance their motivation so as to develop learners English listening performance in comprehension. In terms of multimedia opportunities of computer-assisted listening learning， a large number of professors have paid attention to. They concluded that blend aural text into visual input equipment such as captions， subtitles and transcripts can lead to a better understanding and reduce the loading of cognitive （Wakabayashi， 1998; Jones， 2006; Jones， 2009; Winke， Gass and Sydorenko， 2010; Taylor， 2005）. Seo （2002）， Sueyoshi and Hardison （2005）， and Gruba （2006） also confirmed the function of a videotext in multimedia-based communication. Lebedeva， Koltakova， Khaleeva and Rusetskaya （2017） made an investigation to explore the effectiveness of using CALL approach to develop the listening skills. The results showed that the approaches of using CALL had a potential effect in developing listening for the detail skills.

3. Implications and Suggestions

According to the previous studies above， the use of CALL can arouse learners interests and enhance their motivation. CALL materials can provide students with native like speeches and real contents. Compared with traditional teaching form， CALL makes a difference and students hold positive attitudes. By playing flashes and videos， students can roll in a vivid context of situation with teachers explanation. It is a helpful way for students to build background knowledge and expand their horizon. This can lead to a better understanding for listening materials and gain more information. By showing various listening materials can inspire students interests and willing to take part in the interaction in classrooms. Traditional teaching method may be so boring that students cannot take in marvelously and CALL can be a useful solution for this. Computer as a great tool to make teaching materials vivid， students always prefer fresh things and enhance their motivation more easily. The more students blend in the classroom， the more perfect teacher performed， so as to the acquisition improved.