Development of an English CD-ROM Material Making Use of PowerPoint : For Improving Communicative Ability

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a CD-ROM for improving the listening skills of English learners comparatively easily at a low cost, making use of the presentation program called PowerPoint. A multimedia type CALL is considered to be very effective in learning English, because it enables students to learn target items individually at their own pace simulating real target situations on the screen. Students can also use it beyond the normal English classroom setting. Most of the current CD-ROMs on the market, however, are fairy expensive and very little research into their effectiveness has been done so far. We, therefore, decided to develop a CD-ROM by ourselves, because the effectiveness on English learning would be beyond measure if English teachers themselves, who know the language learners' abilities and interests, could develop CD-ROMs. We concluded that it was possible for English teachers to develop CD-ROMs with PowerPoint, not taking a great deal of time, energy or expense.