Reimagining Students’ and Student Development and Support Practitioners’ Experiences in a Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Programme at a University in South Africa

Abstract

AbstractThis mixed methods study explored the experiences and views of information and communication technology (ICT) students and student development and support (SDS) practitioners who facilitated the English Word Power (EWP) programme, which was used as an intervention to address the students' poor English proficiency skills at a university of technology (UoT) in South Africa. There is current research on the experiences and views of students and lecturers on computer-assisted language learning (CALL) programmes; however, no studies have been published on the experiences of SDS practitioners on similar programmes in South Africa. This study addresses this gap by providing the voices of SDS practitioners regarding their experiences with a CALL programme. A descriptive and interpretive research design was adopted. Self-report questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used to collect data. The findings from the student questionnaires (n = 99) indicated that the students were enthusiastic about the programme and enjoyed it. The SDS practitioners (n = 4), however, found it problematic to integrate the EWP programme into their regular teaching activities. It is recommended that a CALL programme, which teaches listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, be integrated with regular teaching. Future research should focus on how to integrate CALL programmes into language development interventions that address students' poor English proficiency.Keywords: computer-assisted language learning (CALL)English proficiencyEnglish Word Power (EWP)second language learningstudent development and support