The Application of CALL in College English Writing Teaching

Information age exerts great influence on education and teaching. With the changes of students' learning goals and pluralism of their learning methods and modes, the introduction of computer-aided and network-based teaching model to college English instruction becomes a necessity. An experiment was designed and conducted to study the effectiveness of CALL in improving students' English writing ability. The computer-aided writing teaching model used is the integration of the face-to-face teaching model (using multi-media classrooms and computer labs), and the autonomous learning model (students' attending network-based writing class). 16 natural classes (475 students) from Jilin Agricultural University were chosen randomly to participate in the two-year experiment, among which 8 experimental classes (238 students) were taught with the application of CALL while the other 8 control classes (237 students) with traditional teaching method (without the application of CALL). The achievements of the experimental students are significantly higher than those of the control in each of the four terms. The results indicate that the experimental students' autonomous learning ability is improved and their learning efficiency is enhanced. It follows that CALL is an effective approach to improve students' English writing ability.