History of CALL and MALL

 

History of CALL and MALL

Technology possesses an ever-changing nature and holds visible effects in the field of education as is the case with many other realms of life. Related with technology in language teaching and learning, it can be easily observed that some acronyms like TELL, CALL, and MALL are broadly used. 

Out of these three, CALL turns out to be the most known as it has been a term in use as of 1960s and 70s. MALL is a quite novel and popular term and may be traced back to a decade ago, or two decades at most. TELL here can be regarded as an umbrella term for the use of technology in language learning in general. 

Here I have discuss the following questions on the link between CALL and MALL: 

Is MALL replacing CALL? Which term is more popular among researchers? 

What are their pros and cons? Which one is more practical and advantageous for language learners? 

Which one is more likely to be involved in the future of language learning and teaching? 

Are CALL and MALL replacing the live language teacher? 

By seeking satisfactory answers for the questions, we aim to shed light upon the dichotomy of CALL or MALL and contribute to the existing literature.

Warschauer (1996) divides the evolution of CALL into three phases: 

• Behaviouristic CALL (1960s-1970s) 

• Communicative CALL (1970s-1980s)

• Integrative CALL (1990s-)

The phase valid today is Integrative CALL. It is mostly web-based and gives computers and the Internet a facilitator role. As Bax (2003) stresses, CALL has gone through considerable changes  over  time.  With  the  transfer  of  computer  functions  to  mobile  devices  like smartphones and  tablets, a  new dimension  emerged in the  field of  language teaching  and learning: MALL. 

It can be briefly said that MALL “differs from CALL in its use of personal, portable devices that enable new ways of learning, emphasising continuity or spontaneity of access across different  contexts  of  use”  (Kukulska-Hulme & Shields, 2008, p. 273). In the past, mobile devices included casette players, MP3/4 players, etc. Their functions were rather limited with no internet access. However, with the advent of mobile devices with advanced functions, their broad use in language learning has become viable. 

Mobile-assisted  Language  Learning  (MALL).  

MALL encompasses the use of mobile devices like cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, pads, and pods for language learning purposes. Especially with the advent of smartphones  and  interactive  mobile 2.0  technologies  MALL  began  to  gain  a  remarkable momentum. It makes a clear comment as to the borders of MALL by stating: “computer assisted mobile learning uses lightweight devices such as personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular mobile phones, and so on”. This elaboration obviously excludes even laptops from the coverage of MALL. Accordingly, such developments have led to a CALL Participatory Educational Research.