DEVELOPING CALL PROGRAM

CALL program is one of effective ways of English language teaching and learning. A number of studies reported its effectiveness in assisting students to learn independently and get a better self confidence in learning English. However to be able to develop a CALL program, we need to follow some steps such as: 1. Initial planning, 2. Determining objectives, 3. Choosing types of the programs, 4. Selecting materials, 5. Choosing program, 6. Determining task, 7. Designing structure of the program.

The initial process of designing a model of self-access computer-assisted language learning (CALL) program which comprises a set of task: determining objectives, types of program, selecting materials, choosing software, determining tasks, and structuring program design.

Determining the program’s objectives should be done prior to any other step. Objective will normally function as a guide to the nature of the structure of the program and is thus crucial to the design of the whole project. The aims of CALL program is to provide self-access learning resources such as grammar, vocabulary, and other skills and components.

There are several types of computer-based programs commonly used in language learning such as drill and practice, games, tutorials, simulations, problem solving, and demonstration. Tutorials have been more selected and preferred. There are two kinds of tutorial, they are ‘linear’ and ‘branching’. Linear program presents every frame to every student. Linear programs may be paced by the student and may include interesting graphics. The student can not alter the forward progression of the program, except to pace it. On the other hand, branching programs permit interaction with parts of the program without requiring formal completion of all prior elements in the program. Branching programs include pre-tests of major sections in the program. The program computes the student score and advises the student to either skip over or complete the section. In branching program, feedback can be given ranges from simple (such as ‘correct’) to more elaborate (such as ‘you forgot to carry the 1. Please try again’).

Next step is selecting materials. It is important that multimedia authors and teachers do not fall back into the trap of setting and the same dull old tasks like performing drill, copying out lists of words, doing vocabulary and grammar test with one answer, etc. Hartoyo (1998) developed a material that covers grammatical structures which are considered to be the main programs for EFL learners, particularly Indonesia learners of English. There are five aspects of grammar which are covered such as nouns, articles, subject-verb agreement, tenses, and conjunctions.

After choosing material, there is an important step that is choosing software. There are some multimedia software that can be used to design or develop a CALL program for example Asymetrix Multimedia Toolbook 3.0. This program is selected to develop CALL program based on some considerations. They are: 1. Toolbok 3.0 is a hypermedia system. Therefore, it is appropriate for designing tutorial program as it enables users to explore and read material or any information. 2. Toolbook is supported by text, graphics and visual illustrations, and it can also be combined with audio as well as video. 3. Toolbook is mainly run on PCs which are widely used in the place where the study was carried out.

Various researches claim that tasks in computer based programs are essential in stimulating interaction both between learners and computers. Wilson (1994) suggeste that before designers can build CALL system that “understand” their users, they must be able to analyze what learning tasks should be provided to stimulate interaction between the user and the computer.

We also need to design structure of the program. The program normally consists of three parts. The first part consists of information/explanation about the tutorial program. The second part consists of material highlighted in the program. The third part of the program is a set of exercises that enables the user to assess his/her understanding toward the materials he/she has just learnt. The exercise section was also completed with a pop-up window that gives a response to the students whenever they answer the question. For example: “you answer is correct”, “try again and good luck!”, or “nearly correct”. The program also provides several facilities such as “objectives, helps, next, previous, and main menu” buttons to enable learners to navigate to a particular page or section.

The self-access computer-assisted language learning program is usually design on the basis of five principles, they are: 1. Interactivity (feedback and instruction). It refers to the effectiveness of the instructions and the feedback provided in the program. 2. Usability (flexibility). It refers to how easy it is to navigate within the program. 3. Content appropriateness. It concerns with the materials presented in the program. 4. Effectiveness. It refers to how effective the program assists language learners to improve their mastery of the material. 5. Performance (attractiveness). It refers to the presentation, layout of the screen, the color, and the illustrations.