Study On Relationship Between University Students' Frequency Of Computer Access And Their Level Of Computer Literacy And On Gender Differences In The Two Aspects In CALL Environment

With the current development of information and communication technology, Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) research is more and more popular in the academic world. And the topic on students'computer access and computer literacy in CALL environment is very important in the research field. It cannot be ignored because it is fairly an influential factor in students'foreign language learning process.This study aims to look into the relationship between university students'frequency of computer access and their level of computer literacy based on the real condition of the two aspects. And this study focuses on the gender differences in university students'frequency of computer access and their level of computer literacy. Three questions are included in the thesis as follows.(1) What is the condition of university students'frequency of computer access and their level of computer literacy in CALL environment?(2) What is the relationship between university students'frequency of computer access and their level of computer literacy in CALL environment?(3) Are there significant gender differences in university students'frequency of computer access and their level of computer literacy? If there are, what are the differences?The study adopts the questionnaire, which is made by Winke and Goertler (2008) and modified by the researcher according to the requirement of the study, and interviews with the objects to obtain the data the study required. After getting the data, the study makes Pearson relation analysis and Independent sample T-test with SPSS 17.0 on the research questions posed in the study.Derived from the data collected from the questionnaires and interviews, findings show that university students'frequency of computer access and level of computer literacy are positively correlated; there are not significant gender differences in overall students'frequency of computer access and there are not significant gender differences in overall students'level of computer literacy. It is the verification of the answer to second research question. But, high level of computer literacy does not necessarily mean high frequency of computer access. There are some significant gender differences in four items on level of computer literacy. The test result shows that there are significant gender differences in students'level of installing program directly with a VCD or DVD. The second significant gender difference is the students'level of uploading a video in a digital camera into a computer or video editing software. A third significant gender difference is students'level of editing a video. The last one that shows significant gender difference is troubleshooting a computer when they are learning foreign languages with their computers. On each item, male students report higher level of computer literacy than female students do. It can be explained by the interest differences of male students and female students.This research has instructional meaning on language teaching. As findings of section 4.2 mentioned that students'frequency of computer access and their level of computer literacy in language learning are closely related, so school administrators need to provide university students with helpful environment to have more access to computers and Internet. According to the gender differences in university students'frequency of computer access and their level of computer literacy, teachers shall change their teaching styles, including allocating different assignments to boys and girls and carrying out the assessment activities differently, to get better teaching results.