2004 Volume 18 Pages 65-76
The purpose of this study is to investigate the influences of Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) on English learners at university in Japan when CAI is introduced into one of the formal English classes. In CAI, students learn English through the materials provided via software, which is completely different from the traditional and conventional instruction styles at universities in Japan: i.e. lecture, Enshu, and seminar styles. We need to know whether or not a new instruction style in a formal class at university brings about positive effects to students' English learning and how it affects the students. In this paper, first, the course design for the CAI will be depicted, which was adopted in one of formal English classes at university. Then, we will describe how the CAI class was actually perceived from the teacher's viewpoint; we will also show how it was seen indeed from the students' viewpoints, using the results of a questionnaire on a CAI class style, which was given to the students. Finally, we will show the total amount of learning-time for which each student learned English through computers in the CAI class and outside the CAI class in the form of as preparation, review, or homework, so that we can see whether the CAI class motivates the students to study English for themselves, making use of a Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) system.
