They remained popular through the 1990s even while more advanced technology and a shifting educational landscape rendered them nearly obsolete. These technological marvels date back to the 1950s (with some existing even earlier than that) when the idea that rote memorization and repetition were the best methods for learning new languages. However, today’s labs tend towards the digital and software side (although some still require additional hardware), with a couple of open source platforms available for anyone who wants to do some tinkering to repurpose for their own classrooms. Though they are mostly relics of the past, some institutions still use them today. Language labs were meant to be used in a classroom setting. Once they were ready, student used mics to record their own content and send it back to the teacher, who could then check the students’ work as it came in. The teacher fed students educational content through a cassette-based system (remember cassettes?) which the students could then listen and respond to at their own pace. The teacher occupied one master console while students sat at booths with mics. In their heyday, old-school language labs required hardware to be set up in classrooms. Language labs are audio and audio-visual systems that help students learn new languages through listening and speaking. Try FluentU for FREE! What Are Language Labs?
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Which English language labs are right for your students? Let’s find out!ĭownload: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬan take anywhere. With today’s advanced technology, language labs are still finding their ways into classrooms, though in a slightly different form.Įnglish educators can-and do-still use English language labs (physical or virtual) in the classroom to help students improve and practice their listening comprehension and speaking skills. Language labs were an idea ahead of their time, succeeding despite hardware glitches and technological limits. So let’s go retro and check out an idea that’s stuck around for half a century: language labs. There’s plenty to learn from examining the educational landscape already behind us. With all the talk about current technology and what the future can bring, we sometimes forget to look to the past. By Yuliya Geikhman 9 Modern English Language Lab Software Options That Hand You the ReinsĮnglish language labs are the hipsters of the digital classroom, bringing tech into ed before #edtech was even a thing.