The Application Of CALL In Senior High School English Teaching: A Case Study

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL in short) was first brought up by IBM company in the early 1960s and its development based on three distinctive theories:CALL based on behaviorism. CALL based on social cognitive theory and CALL based on comprehensive theory of convergence. The study of CALL began in the 1980s in China and progressively implemented in schools in the 1990s. After 30 years of intensive research and development in the study of Computer-Aided Instruction (CAI in short), appropriative hardware and software dedicated to CALL were developed. Based on the developmental needs of CALL at home and abroad, research in language study has been carried out extensively, but limited to universities, colleges and institutions of higher language learning level. There is a lack of study and research based on high school language learning.This thesis is intended to explore the influence of CALL on practical teaching and learning in senior high school English class. This quantitative case study involves an experimental research within a senior high school in China. The nature of this study is to obtain data on level of interests generated toward CALL and the evaluation of its effectiveness in improving English assessment scores.The thesis is divided in five chapters. Chapterâ… introduces the background and the significance of this research. Chapterâ…¡describes the theoretical basis of CALL including the definition, theoretical research and application of CALL at home and abroad. It also elaborates on the psychological foundations of CALL. Chapterâ…¢explains the entire experimental process:from hypothesis to materials and instruments needed, and the whole experimental trials utilizing different hardware, software and preparatory teaching plan; also a three key-stage in CALL is introduced here. Chapterâ…£includes the collation of and analysis of the recorded data. The validity of the hypothesis and results obtained from the experiment will be elaborated here. The thesis concludes in Chapterâ…¤. Implications of CALL for teaching and learning and limitations of this research will be discussed here, also, future studies for this subject is included.