Evaluation of the Relative Contribution of Various Elements in the CALL System of Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Eighteen sets of courseware based on the three-step auditory comprehension approach (TSACA) were developed and have been experimentally used by 14,309 students in 26 universities and 9 high schools. Results have been observed through TOEIC^reg scores and/or by questionnaires. Analysis of these data has shown a variation of courseware efficacy among the classes. Further study was required to identify positive and negative factors influencing the effectiveness of teaching using this courseware. The factors considered in this study were the teacher type, the time available for the students to study, courseware, and student motivation. The results of this study confirmed the usefulness of TSACA and its related courseware. In addition, it was concluded that no one factor, including courseware, could optimize the effect of teaching english as a foreign language (EFL), and that a systems approach is indispensable in improving the efficacy of teaching EFL by computer-assisted language learning (CALL).