The iPhone has an app that makes the screen look like a cowbell and makes a ‘ding!’ sound whenever you tap it. It also has an app that makes the screen look like a glass of beer, which you can pour out. So you’d better believe it has apps to help you with all the different aspects of learning a language. In fact, the folks at onlinecollegedegree.org compiled 50 of them in a recent post.

Of course there are the simple translators you’d expect, but there are some definite standouts. Take the idiom dictionary. That’s got to come in handy. When I travel and speak to non-native speakers, they commonly say, “Please, don’t use any slang!” So if they’re around someone they don’t feel comfortable asking to alter their speech, they could just slyly plug anything that doesn’t make sense to them into this app as if they’re sending a text.

But definitely the one that sounds most interesting to me is the Translator with Voice. While a lot of online dictionaries have an audio component, I feel that this app is one step closer to realizing sci-fi fantasy I hope to see in my lifetime. When, oh when! will there be an app that automatically translates whatever you say? You know what I’m talking about, the universal translator. We definitely need to invent that before we invent deep space travel. iPhone developers, go!

When we create materials for our ESL classes, we might use bubbl.us, comic strips  or Read, Write, Think (like I discussed here). And the decision is pretty simple. If we like the program and the product, we use it. The story gets quite a bit more complicated when we start having students use computer assisted language learning (CALL) products. It’s about more than fun colors and flashy end-products. The process of using the technology should be helpful to students. The use of technology should be tied to learning outcomes. But there is even more to think about than learning outcomes.  Well, I have developed a nice process to help you/me decide when and how to use CALL in your/my ESL classes.

Let me explain since you can’t read the chart to the left (view a larger/readable copy here). First, you need to consider the learning objectives of the ESL lesson. Then, identify appropriate CALL materials. Determine what is feasible in your setting and fully consider the benefits of the technology. Finally, decide.  There are a lot more details on the chart which will hopefully help you decide if and when to use CALL.