Theory And Practice Of M-CALL Program Evaluation

With the rapid development of the information technology, more and more multimedia CD-ROM programs have emerged for foreign language learning. These programs usually claim to create interactive learning environment and enable learners to enhance their language skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating. But teachers and students often find it difficult to determine which program is more interactive. The main concern and interest of this study is to analyze and evaluate a CD-ROM program. College English Integrated Course CD-ROM (2002) published by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press is chosen because of its wide use at colleges and universities.On the basis of constructivist learning theory and instructional design theory, the author introduces some commonly accepted checklists, and designs a series of questions for trial evaluation of the CD-ROM program. A group of college students who have learned with the CD-ROM program for four months are chosen to make judgments of the program by answering the questions according to their own learning experience.The purpose of the CD-ROM program evaluation and the opinion survey among the students through questionnaires is to present the strengths and limitations of the CD-ROM. Also it is hoped that this paper will offer some useful suggestions to language teachers so that they may appropriately make use of multimedia CD-ROM program and or guide their students to choose suitable programs. Finally, it is expected that this paper will be able to supply some useful suggestions to software developing companies and courseware designers.