A Comparative Study On College EFL Teachers' And EFL Students' Attitudes Towards Key Aspects Of CALL

There has been much discussion about the relationship between CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) and language education quality. It has been identified that the use of CALL can not necessarily enhance the quality of English education, but the enhancement lies in the attitudes of both English teachers and students, especially the ways of computer technology application in English teaching and learning. With the development of computer technology, universities are making more use of CALL than ever before. It is necessary to check both EFL teachers'and students'attitudes towards main aspects of CALL and their views on how CALL should be used. In order to find out the attitudes towards CALL from EFL teachers and students systematically, a questionnaire survey and in-depth interview were conducted. The following aspects are especially addressed: teachers'and students'present practice of CALL; participants'attitude towards the effect of CALL; participants'attitude towards CALL in practice; and participants'opinions of the role of computer, teacher, and students in CALL environment. The study aims to find out the problems in the present CALL application and identify their potential reasons, in the hope of figuring out the appropriate use of computer technology in English education.According to the constructivism theory and often discussed topics in previous researches, the author conducted a questionnaire survey to 41 university EFL teachers and 144 students. After statistical analysis of the valid questionnaires, in combination of the analysis of in-depth interview data, it is found: both teachers and students showed a warm welcome of CALL, but they had limited use of CALL activities; teachers evaluated the effect of CALL more highly than students did; students'were not satisfied with present teaching methods in CALL, they demanded more communicative and vivid learning ways; teachers and students lacked knowledge of CALL theories and skills, especially students still depended on teacher heavily since they were short of enough autonomous learning ability, and it restrained teachers'role to change from"knowledge transmitter"to"knowledge facilitator"and"learning organizer". It is also revealed in this study that students who with lower English proficiency and lower computer skills depended more on teachers. It is recommended in this paper that it be urgent to carry out CALL theories and skills training for EFL teachers and students; meanwhile, teachers should improve their teaching strategies and methods according to constructivism, especially the ability of organizing effective interactive and cooperative learning activities for students according to students'needs and interests. In addition, school authority and EFL teachers should pay more attention to strengthen students'autonomous learning ability.