The Construction Of A Web-based Call Module For Teaching Spoken English To College English Majors

Spoken language is often considered to be one of the most difficult aspects of language learnings for the teacher to help the students with. The choice of instructional material, the arrangement of teaching staff, the application of teaching approaches and students' attitude are four main respects in which problems often occur in teaching spoken English to college English majors. Integrating Web-based technologies into fulfilling the learning projects is supposed to be an effective and innovative solution to the problems current spoken English classes meet. Mainly from the influence of media on language learning, this thesis attempts to construct a Web-based computer-assisted language learning module for spoken English teaching in universities.Web-based CALL technologies create an authentic language environment for students to communicate for the sake of need rather than practice. Asynchronous and synchronous computer mediated communications (CMC) make it possible for students to construct their own knowledge systems and schema by self-access learning and cooperative learning. A variety of technologies are introduced in the module. The emphasis is put on the application of those info-teches in language learning rather than the technology itself.Asynchronous communication including e-mail, Internet Forum and blog give students chance to expend the time and effort in increasing grammatical accuracy. They allow students for reflection time, thus enabling more critical thinking and in-depth analysis. The use of asynchronous computer-mediated communication can be a means to reduce stress in communication as well as to facilitate self-expression. Chatroom, MOOs, videoconferencing and instant "messengers are synchronous tools which enable real-time communication and collaboration in a "same time-different place" mode. Synchronous communication takes place just like face-to-face communication and takes the advantage of focusing on idea exchange rather than worrying about the status and identity. If needed, of course, audio and video devices will help remove the psychological obstacles that not-seeing-face-and-hearing-voicebrinys. Synchronous tools have been developed to bind more and more features only lying on asynchronous tools before such as capturing the history of the interactions of a group, allowing for collective knowledge to be more easily shared and distributed. Instant Messenger is the best tool which represents the trend of combination.This study is based on the learning theory of congnitivism and constructivism and promotes cooperative leaning and project-based teaching. In Web-based CALL spoken English class, the class is expended to a wider space, from mere classroom to online communities. Online groups interact with classroom groups. There is no need for teachers to rack their brains to create simulated situations which have never been real authentic. The project itself provides the context and opportunity for students to make authentic communication. The Internet provides unprecedented resources of knowledge and information than any kind of current textbooks. Teachers turn from knowledge resources to guide to those resources. A teacher is an organizer, a coordinator or even a participant as well as a monitor and an assessor in the project Students play the major part without doubt in learning which is active instead of being passive like before. There will be no practicing but only using the language. Students learn for the sake of use and use itself is practice. Students communicate for the sake of opinion exchange and meaning negotiation in authentic situations where cooperation and collaboration are encouraged and required in the learning process.Communication by Web-based technologies is immersed in students' research, response and reflection. Spoken English plays the main part in the development of broad language skills and critical thinking in the accomplishment of the project An effort has been made in empirical spoken English class to encourage and promote the application of Web-based CALL module. Fu...