Dealing with Computer-Related Anxiety in the Project-Oriented CALL Classroom
2000; Routledge; Volume: 13; Issue: 4-5 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1076/0958-8221(200012)13
ISSN1744-3210
Autores Tópico(s)Discourse Analysis in Language Studies
ResumoWhile research in CALL has stressed the motivating power of technology, little attention has been paid to the demotivating potential of new technologies in the classroom. CALL classes which make extensive use of new technologies (e-mail, the Internet, HTML editors, news groups, scanners and image converters) can also give rise to anxiety and frustration among learners. This anxiety can serve as an affective factor that inhibits language acquisition in some learners. This was found to be the case in CALL classes that involved students in collaborative research projects in which they published their projects as websites on the Internet. This paper undertakes a qualitative analysis of a class of German students who participated in project-oriented CALL trials (PrOCALL) in an Australian university environment over three years. It recommends a ‘meta-level’ approach to reducing computer-related anxiety and frustration whereby the technological implements of the classroom become the focus of analysis and critical reflection, in group activities as well as in individual assignments. By historicizing technological innovations, a critical appreciation of the new communications media can be fostered as the students explore their benefits. Students’ misgivings are placed in perspective and their anxiety around unfamiliar technologies channelled back into the project in productive ways.
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