ERIC Number: ED332537
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1990-Mar
Pages: 15
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Beyond Drill and Filler: The Computer/Composition Connection.
Cardenas, Karen Hardy
In choosing to have students use the computer in unstructured writing activities, the instructor may prefer to cover basics during classroom sessions and have students use technological aids to expand on these basics in outside assignments. Out-of-class composition assignments force students to create with these basics on their own. Students use word processing programs rather than "drill-and-filler" software; their goal is not to learn the patterns of the target language but to use what they know to create their own meaning. Language teachers have been slow to use the computer in teaching composition and equally slow in reporting the results of their experiences. Observations are presented on the basis of a three-semester project to increase the use of computers in the writing segments of four intermediate and advanced Spanish classes. It is concluded that the use of the computer in teaching foreign language composition has tremendous advantages, regardless of the content of the course or the way that the composition component is incorporated into the course. There are, however, several factors that will affect the efficacy of computer use. These include: (1) level of class; (2) size of class; (3) nature of assignment; and (4) individual versus group work. (JL)
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Central States Conference on Language Teaching (22nd, Minneapolis, MN, March 15-18, 1990).