Abstract

Computer-Assisted Language Learning has been implemented in the industrialized countries for more than two decades. It has experienced quite a lot of change with the advent of personal computers, especially so after the world has entered a new era of Internet. In Taiwan, CALL is going to draw more attention in the English as a foreign language class at the secondary and tertiary level. Computers, as one of three primary factors in the CALL class, may play a different role while the teacher looks at the machine from a different perspective. It could be a tool, a tutor, a stimulus or a medium of communication. The teacher functions in accordance with how he or she perceives of the computer, ranging from a a less-involved sideliner, or a guide, to a consultant. The paper attempts to clarify the role of the English teacher in the age of Internet. At the end, it addresses the issue of what level of computer literacy the English teacher has to obtain so that he or she can do a good job in the CALL class.

Keywords: CALL , tool , medium , Internet , computer , FL , guide , teacher , computer , literacy , role , Taiwan , tutor , E-mail , WWW