Eight CA Modes in Language Learning and Teaching.doc

Eight CAI Modes in Language Learning and Teaching Libin Yang * Zhejiang University City College Abstract: This paper discusses computer application in language learning and teaching, and suggests 8 modes in the language learning and teaching. It is concluded that the computer can best assist instructors in language learning and teaching if it is seen not as a replacement for their work but as a supplement to it; the computer-assisted learning has stressed the individualization of instruction, and the learner can work at his or her own pace. Key words: CAI multimedia teaching modes I. Introduction Language, as a system, consists of a set of lexical items and syntactic and phonological rules. The number of its grammatical rules is limited, but the exceptions to rules are numerous, and its vocabulary is in continual change. It is more complicated in its semantics, rhetoric and discourse comprehension. The immensity and complexity of the background knowledge cannot be ignored in language communication. In the real world the language we use varies according to a number of situational factors, the most important being the participants, the topic, the speech event, and the setting. It is one of the most important tasks in learning a foreign language to discover how these factors interact, and to develop a feeling for what is appropriate and what the range of appropriacy is in a particular situation. What is needed is an opportunity to experiment with the factors and to develop a sense of how a language relates to the society from which it springs and which the language in turn helps to form. The traditional foreign language classroom offers little opportunity for such experimentation. The computer, however, can come to the learner’s help if we can model the socio-linguistic rules that link language to situation. Computer application in the field of education deeply affects transformation of education and is a tool for language instruction and research in and outside