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シンポジウムICT and Language Learning
BULLSMITH, Christofer(Atomi University)

My goal here is to provide a short overview of ICT in language learning: past,current, and near future. Topics include (1) ICT’s evolving role in enabling learnerexposure to target language (TL) and how this has helped language learning; (2)problems with ICT in language learning; (3) recent developments including to what
extent language learning is likely to become irrelevant; and (4) how widespread use ofICT is changing not only the methods but also the proper goals of language learning.
First, ICT’s evolving role in enabling learner exposure to target language (TL).
 For canned (recorded) language, records and tapes allow learners to hear the TL.
CDs (early 1980s) were more convenient but didn’t change the character oflanguage learning. The interesting change came from the mid-90s when
audio/video compression formats made it possible to manage audio and video on acomputer – for example, to show text and play the audio or video at the same time,
let the student repeat as many times as they like, record a response, play bothback, and so on. This was the birth of interactive multimedia, which when madewell, can provide TL exposure at the pace and level appropriate to each learner,with instant scoring and feedback.
 Linking to another person through ICT was possible by text in the 80s (dial-upBBSs) and 90s (International Usenet via BBSs) and audio links (VoIP) became
possible in the mid-90s. The interesting change came about when Skype VoIP
launched (2003; video followed in 2005), providing reasonably stable andessentially free international calls. This was the birth of video conferences/classes,
enabling class exchanges, digital pen pals, a global marketplace for language
classes, and the remote classes that became suddenly mainstream during theCOVID-19 pandemic.
 Chatting meaningfully with a computer using text started with basic chatbots inthe early 2000s, with limited audio conversations becoming possible withadvances in speech recognition and TextToSpeech in the early 2010s. The
technology has improved in recent years with smart assistants like Alexa andGoogle Duplex, and deepfake technology in conjunction with an index ofexpressions means that realistic video of a face or person can be generated inrealtime.

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These and related ICT developments have caused massive changes outside thelanguage classroom, increasing the volume and speed of international communication
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andsecond-language learning, since even isolated learners far from TL communities canjoin virtual TL communities if they have unfettered internet access. Joining TL
communities increases language exposure and motivation, which is a particularly
strong positive for English learning in Japan, since there are limited domestic TL
communities.
Second, not all ICT developments have been so positive. Early analogue language
labs were expensive, specialist, difficult to maintain, focussed on the technology, andisolating for students who engaged only with a tape deck. Digital replacements in thelate 90s used PCs and were multi-use and easier to service, but the multimedia
learning software packages installed were expensive and immediately out-of-date, anddesigned by programmers who failed to transfer best practice materials-design orclassroom practice to the new instructional medium. Recently, learning software
usually runs on devices that students already have (especially smartphones) andfollows a subscription or Software as a service (SaaS) sales model, reducing up-front
costs and making sure that vendors are motivated to keep the software up-to-date,
supported, and either fun or noticeably effective (or, ideally, both).
Third, in terms of recent developments, machine translation is now often goodenough for non-critical general translation tasks; it is basically instant and generally
free. With voice recognition and text-to-speech, this also means that real-time
interpreting is likewise ‘often good enough’. For casual tourism, shallow business
relationships, any situation where cultural knowledge is not expected, and particularly
when dealing with regional languages that visitors cannot be expected to know, thismeans that language learning is largely irrelevant – we can get by with an app.
However, when using an app, both parties are inevitably aware of the intermediarylayer; learning a language shows investment / interest in the target culture, and goodintercultural communication requires cultural knowledge that goes beyond translatingutterances, so in other cases, language learning is still required. This is especially true
with English learning, as English is the de facto global lingua franca.
Finally, the rapid pace of change – in ICT, and in the culture and practiceconnected with it – creates a problem for language education. Changes in classes(curricula, assessment goals, and so on) are slow – even if policy or learner needschange, teachers and teacher training and tests and textbooks and government goals
and school curricula and stakeholder expectations all have inertia. It is relevant alsothat the senior academics, politicians, and teachers steering these tend to be at least
middle-aged, since adoption of ICT and the language that goes with it varies withICT and Language Learning

135generation (my parents phone, I email, millennials prefer apps, and so on). That is, thepeople steering language education are generally two or three generations behind what
learners are encountering with their peers, let alone what learners will encounter
within the next decade. This in-built conservatism was irrelevant when the pace ofchange was slow, but is increasingly problematic.
Already, a significant proportion of communication (especially enterprise
relationships, doing things like ordering, complaining, getting or giving information) is
managed without contacting a person, instead interacting with ICT systems ranging
from interactive menus (text-based within social media apps, voice-based on atelephone line) to narrow AI chatbots. The use of smart assistants such as Alexa, Siri,and Google Duplex seems set to increase further. Communication support tools
including online dictionaries and glossing functions, voice recognition, automatedcaptioning, TextToSpeech, and automated translation are changing both how students
can most effectively learn and what students need to learn in order to function indifferent contexts. Despite all this, the English education industry generally continues
as if the paradigmatic English use case is dealing with a person … face-to-face, andwithout any communication support tools.