電腦輔助語言學習之失落領域－－文化影響

Missing Pieces in the CALL Puzzle: Influences of Cultural Dynamism

仍為世界強勢語言，英文仍是外語教育產業中最受到重視的語言。由於電腦科技和科學的進步，電腦輔助語言學習已引起語言教育的組織轉型並也成為全球的教學趨勢。英語教學長久以來一直被侷限於特定的教義中，電腦輔助語言學習似乎也只是侷限於特定交流。然而跨學派的交流似乎已在高等教育圈引起諸多關切。電腦輔助語言學習一直被視為單純是電腦語言學和認知科學的突破，但當被運用在外語教學和學習情境時，人為努力地將不同領域做結合，就引起極大的注意。雖然科學與科技持續出陳布新地改變電腦輔助語言學習的流通方式，而目雖它也廣為使用，可是電腦輔助語言學習仍須克服非科技與科學而是來自諸言與文化的人文障礙。無可至庸地，電腦輔助語言學習已使語言教育超越時空的藩籬，並也使得語言學習者成為有潛能的獨立、終生學習者。除此之外，電腦輔助語言學習也為了降低通勤和住宿等成本。當眾目焦點是放置於研究證實的基準上，很多影響結果的變數就被視為盲點被模糊與忽略。在本文中，創新擴散理論和其他有關人類發展的觀點將會用審慎探討跨文化和多元語以及跨領域等個人文化及與其悠息相關的工作環境。社會文化對電腦輔助語言學習與教學的無形影響，進而促使更多結合跨文化和多元語以及跨語領域的研究被擴展到電腦輔助語言學習結合英文為外語學習而非第二語言的新領域。

Remaining as the dominant world language, teaching and learning English as a second or foreign language keeps intriguing to the educational industry. With the advances in computational technology and scientific research, computer assisted language learning (CALL) has caused the language education to undergo paradigm shift and becomes a trend of delivery worldwide. English as a second language (ESL/L2) has long been limited in specific dialogues, and so has CALL. Intercultural communication among interdisciplines has attracted a large amount of attention in higher education institutions and has also been urged as the foundation of general education. The application of CALL, which used to be viewed as mainly a breakthrough of combining computational linguistics with cognitive science, to ESL teaching or learning contexts starts paying attention to this endeavor. Although technology and science keep making great progresses, CALL, prevalent worldwide though, comes upon some brick walls caused by cultural differences. CALL has undoubtedly brought language education further ”beyond spatial and time boundaries” and has also made learners potentially independent and life-long learners. Additionally, it is supposed to help cut down the cost on commuting and boarding. However overemphasized with its studies-proved effectiveness, its side-effects caused by computer users and their surrounding environments have been neglected as influential variables. In this paper, with the introduction of Diffusion of Innovation Theory along with related human developmental approaches, perspectives of cross-cultures and inter-disciplines will be used to explain how powerfully invisible cultural influences dynamically affect the development and delivery of language e-education, and hopefully, further to arouse more research interests in CALL concerning inter-cultural and-disciplinary contexts of English as a foreign language in general education.