Structural Learning Theory

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2.1.1 Behaviourist or Structural CALL

Behaviourist views of language learning and of language teaching were predominant in the two decades following the Second World War. The learning theory was very influential in the 1940s and 1950s. These views drew on general theories of learning propounded by psychologists such as Watson (1924), Thorndike (1932), Skinner (1957) and Dakin (1973). With regard to language learning, the best known proponent of this psychological theory was B.F. Skinner. Dakin identifies three general principles of language learning derived from these theories: a. the law of exercise i.e. language learning is promoted when the learner makes active and repeated responses to stimuli, b. the law of effect i.e. importance …show more content…

The programmes used for language teaching were designed to teach through repetition and to check learners’ responses to grammatical, vocabulary, or reading exercises and provide them with instant feedback on their answers. According to Kern & Warschauer, this is “consistent with the structuralist approach, which emphasized that repeated drilling on the same materials was beneficial or even essential to learning” (p.8). The computer, in this model, acted as a tutor that delivered the language instruction. One of the widely known programs during the Behaviourist era was Programmed Logic/Learning for Automated Teaching Operations (PLATO) developed …show more content…

17).

The behaviourist views on language learning were discredited with Chomsky’s review of Skinner’s Verbal Behaviour which points out dangers of extrapolating from laboratory studies of animal behaviour to the language behaviour of humans. The terms ‘stimulus’ and ‘response’ were exposed as vacuous where language behaviour was concerned. In addition to this, studies of children acquiring L1 showed that parents rarely corrected their children’s linguistic errors, thus casting doubts on the importance of
‘reinforcement’(Ellis, 2002). This, growing dissatisfaction towards behaviourist theory paved the way for the subsequent theory of second language learning called Cognitive theory of language teaching and learning. 2.1.2 The Cognitive or Communicative CALL

The Cognitive or Communicative CALL was introduced in 1970s. In this era, mainframe

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