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The term Computer Assited Language Learning became established in language education early the 1980´s (Chapelle, 2001). [TESL-EJ](https://tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume16/ej64/ej64a2/#:~:text=2%20%E2%80%93%20August%202023-,From%20Computer%20Assisted%20Language%20Learning%20(CALL)%20to,Mobile%20Assisted%20Language%20Use%20(MALU)] -
Stephen Krashen's significant body of work in the 1970s and 80s (see especially his widely read Principles and Practices, 1982) gave a clear focus to the experimental approaches in "communicative language learning." The predicament for CALL was whether students were to communicate with the computer (the patient and friendly teacher) or with each other, with the computer merely a stimulus to the conversation. webpages.csus.edu -
One recurrent theme throughout these early days, nonetheless, was the crucial pedagogical debate, largely framed by John Higgins and Tim Johns, over whether the computer was master of or slave to the learning process (Higgins & Johns 1984). Was the computer to be a replacement for the teacher, or merely an obedient servant to the student? webpages.csus.edu
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The emphasis on natural language expressed itself in TESOL practice in two related but somewhat divergent communicative movements: content-based learning ("Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English"; see Cantoni-Harvey, 1987). Fortunately, by the early 1990s, as these approaches came to have considerable (and continuing) influence in the schools, computer technology was catching up to its potential.
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Communication over distance or even within a networked classroom provided fascinating "content" in the ordinary discourse of people learning more about each other and each others' cultures (Cummins and Sayers 1995), even as they shared information about academic topics. webpages.csus.edu