Computer Networks for Language Learning: The Creation of Meaning through Interaction.

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Computer networking has made many new activities available to language learners. While these innovations are practical, they are also grounded in theory and justifiable on sound principles of language learning. Computers make possible classroom activities maximizing the benefit drawn from complex and otherwise unmanageable communicative interactions. Depending on its capabilities, a computer network can provide for interaction between a user and databases, bibliographic sources, or information sources; between user and other u )rs; between user and various experts; and through word processing, between user and text. Local area networks which usually consist of a number of computers linked together in one room, provide the potential for a variety of student activities, including manipulating text, sharing work, creating text, and conferencing. The Georgia Institute of Technology English and Political Science departments have set up a system on the Wide Area Network that serves as an adjunct to class instruction by providing accessible services such as electronic mail and electronic bulletin boards. The software for a University of Southern California freshman composition program uses a notebook metaphor allowing students to sit at a microcomputer to plan, organize, research, and write a paper on an assigned topic. Various other networking projects both current or projected are discussed. (MSE) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

COMPUTER NETWORKS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING: THE CREATION OF MEANING THROUGH INTERACTION MI DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Once or Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC Ad document has been reproduced as received trom the person or organization originating it. O Minor changes have been made to unworn reproduction Quality Points of view or opinions stat ed rn this dad meet do not necessarily represent ort.c.ai OERI positron 0, policy “PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).” Emily A. Thrush Georgia Institute of Technology and David Hardisty British Council Many language programs currently have access to some kind of computer laboratory, often with computers or work stations networked together and connected to a large storage device such as a hard disk. The most common usage of such a laboratory is as a word processing facility, with the word processing software located on the storage device and the students’ text saved on individual floppy disks. A network makes a word processing lab much easier to run, because there is no need for students to fumble with floppy disks, the software runs much faster on a unit with large amounts of RAM storage, and students usually need to learn fewer commands and procedures to operate the system. These benefits may, in themselves, justify the investment in networking hardware and software, but they certainly do not begin to take advantage of the capabilities of a sophisticated, or even of a primitive network. The mere fact, however, that advancements in technology have made new and different activities possible in the laboratory does not in itself justify these activities, though many teachers may feel pushed into incorporating them into their repertoires of techniques simply to satisfy administrators who see major investments of resources when they look at these labs, or students who may think that more and newer technology is intrinsically better. It turns out, rather happily, that proper use of computer networking is, in fact, thoroughly grounded in theory, and justifiable on very sound principles of language learning.