Defining a Call Activity

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to explain CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning) through Activity Theory (AT). First, a summary of AT is presented, based on the ideas of Leontiev and Engström. It is shown how the subject appropriates the object through the mediation of a tool and the relationship with the other members of the community in which he or she is inserted. The basic principles which guide AT are also described, emphasizing its hierarchical levels. Secondly, an attempt is made to demonstrate how AT can be applied to a CALL activity. The conclusion is that AT, considering that it includes both synchronic and diachronic aspects of the problem under investigation, has the capability of integrating the different perspectives and explain many of the conflicts of an essentially interdisciplinary and theoretically fragmented area, as is the case of CALL.