:: CALL :: From CALL to IMI :: Primary EFL Teaching :: A Project ::

Potentialities and weaknesses of IMI in the Primary EFL teaching

Intrinsicly multimedia software leads the navigator to use different symbolic systems (i.e. languages) in an integrated way. To effectively exploit the actual power points of the multimedia computers in the processes of TEFL in the Primary, we necessarily need to weight their potentialities and weaknesesses.
Children find easy to use computers because they are friendly and intuitive, because hypermedia provide focus on the task rather than on the techniques. Another positive point to take into consideration is the existence of good multimedia software that bases the navigation on catchy and lively activities: this enhances certainly motivation and empowers the interactive abilities towards the overcome the egocentric stage.

Hypermedia provide also an high exposure to different kinds of media and communicative channels, this necessarily leads to the understanding, before in an intuitive way, later in a ever more personal way, of several languages, and their use in an integrated manner. There is a meaningful use of the L2: children read and listen to understand the messages, speak and write to communicate ideas, feelings, experiences.
We actually need not to over-emphasize the positive aspects of IMI seeking to give the right place to hypermedia in the curriculum. Hypermedia software could be exploited as one of the the most effective tools in our hands to obtain our objectives in the teaching of EFL in the primary: a communication enhancer and a metacognitive skills activator.

Firstly we must consider that interactive multimedia computer seems to be the ideal medium for self paced individual learning. It is able to combine different forms of information in various formats and present it as one coherent idea. Images, sound, text and even video can be incorporated into a presentation that is self paced and interactive: all this deals with the actual trend in linguistic theories, that goes toward a holistic approach to language teaching and learning that takes into consideration also the development of metacognitive abilities, together with the use of the language in a communicative way.Lastly, we can introduce some of the main advantages in bringing IMI to the foreign language classroom:
Interactivity: children can control the path of the material, and the program can respond by providing appropriate materials and stimuli;
Answer Evaluation: this is the computer's ability to control a student's input and give specific diagnostics on its accuracy in a "soft" manner.
Graphics and Sounds: graphics in color and sounds are available in computer interactive software. Both add an appreciable motivational factor to materials.
Timing: the display rate of text may be varied and also the text may be "paused" and shown in segments. Similarly, graphics may be revealed slowly or at the student's request. This is an useful feature above all in the primary school, where students are at the beginning of the instrumental use of their linguistic skills;
Animation: this feature can be used effectively in computer presentations to show for example processes, paralinguistic features, meanings in context.
Control and other Media: the computer can control other media- such as videodisc, video cassette players, audio disc, and audio cassette players - thus allowing for very complex and multifaceted computer presentations.

:: CALL :: From CALL to IMI :: Primary EFL Teaching :: A Project ::