page_title: Language lab
section_title: Change of media
hierarchical_section_title: Language lab / Change of media
caption_attribution_description: English: Japanese High school Language Lab Teachers console
context_page_description: A language laboratory is a dedicated space for foreign language learning where students access audio or audio-visual materials. They allow a teacher to listen to and manage student audio, which is delivered to individual students through headsets or in isolated 'sound booths.' Language labs were common in schools and universities in the United States in the two decades following World War II. They have now largely been replaced by self access language learning centers, which may be called 'language labs.'
context_section_description: Starting in the 1980s, many schools transformed their old language labs into computer suites. However, the advent of affordable multimedia capable PCs in the late 1990s led to a resurgence and transformation of the language laboratory with software and hard drives in place of reels of analogue tape.
  In the 1990s new digital, hybrid PC based systems allowed extended functionality, in terms of better "management' of student / teacher audio with some levels of internet and video formats.
  Media is 'managed' on these hybrid systems by language lab providers creating a supplementary network over and above the existing PC network for audio connections and communications in fixed locations. These hybrid systems are not without problems, mainly associated with hardware issues  as the manufacturers of these hybrid systems have to replace parts and separate cabling. This both adds to the complexity of the product and has a cost implication via manufacturer annual ‘service’ fees.
caption: A modern language laboratory control center
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