Using Multimedia in the Foreign Language Classroom | Page 9

for not providing real opportunities for meaningful communication (see Long,
1990; Mehan, 1985; Sheerin 1991), give way to interaction between students.
The use of computers can facilitate such an interaction provided that, as Hyland
(1993) stresses, the layout facilitates movement and allows collaborative work
around one screen. Working in small groups or pairs is multiply beneficial as,
according to Long (1990), it increases both the quality and quantity of student
talk. Within the context of CALL students have the chance to work within a
relaxed environment (Peterson 1997) which, as Krashen (1987: 33) claims,
limits the affective filter and makes the accomplishment of the task easier to
them. In addition, interaction between students releases them from the strict
control of the teacher and allows them to adopt more equal and varied roles
during discourse. Finally, working collaboratively allows students learn from
each other as, according to Allwright (1984: 158), the ‘collective linguistic
resources’ of the group are always greater than those of the individual.
 CALL can help students change the way they learn. As Wood (1988: 34)
stresses, the image of a passive learner who is ready to learn whatever is
presented to her opposes to the theories of both Piaget and Vygotsky who
emphasise that learners are actively involved in the construction of knowledge.
According to Meskill (2005), computers can help students actively participate in
the construction of knowledge and develop as autonomous learners as they are
the ones who hold the mouse, control the keyboard and choose how to direct
their action according to their individual needs and preferences. This is greatly
facilitated by the use of hyperlinks which, as Kern and Warschauer (2000)
stress, represent a revolutionary new medium for organizing, linking, and
accessing information, as it gives students the chance to have great control over
their learning. Thus students can not only go at their own pace but even on their
own, individual path, going forward and backwards to different parts of the
program (Warschauer, 1997: 4 as referred in Motteram and Slaouti, 2000, Unit
10: 14).
Finally, an important notion within the Vygotskian tradition which sees
learning as a social phenomenon is that of ‘scaffolding’. Maybin, Mercer and
Stierer (1992: 188) define scaffolding as the special kind of help which not only
enables a learner to accomplish a task which she would not have been able to
manage on her own but, also, that is the kind of help which is intended to bring
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