The Functions of a Language Lab

Introduction
There are certain strategies of language teaching a teacher finds difficult to use in a language classroom. He feels the need for a much more controlled environment with more equipment and A/ V aids to teach his students in a better way. Sometimes a teacher may also feel the necessity for certain opportunities to conduct research work in a specific area related to a language on scientific grounds. This need is the basic notion behind the establishment of a language lab.
A well-equipped place meant for experiments with respect to language learning and/ or study in a controlled environment is called a language lab.

Purpose
A language lab can suffice any or both of the two purposes;
a) Language learning
b) Language study.

a) language learning
The learning of a language focuses at teaching of four skills of a language – Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. It is done first by teaching each skill individually and later, in integrated form. An advantage a language learning-based lab has over a classroom is that it can act both as a lab as well as a classroom, whereas a classroom cannot serve as a lab.

b) Language study
The scientific study of a language demands experimental work to be done with language in a controlled environment where every observation can be recorded and enormous data can be stored, analysed and presented in the desired manner. All these purposes of language study (especially Speech Analysis) are best done in a language lab designed for this purpose. This lab contains sensitive apparatus that helps study a language item in every aspect. Let’s consider an example:

Suppose a strange or new sound is observed to be used by the native speakers of a certain language. It is now the job of the Phoneticians to conduct scientific study regarding the existence and status of that sound. They record speeches of the native speakers carrying the same sound. In the language lab, the Phoneticians identify with the help of sensitive equipment if the sound in question is new to them or merely an allophone of the previously known speech sounds already added to the IPA chart. This process is called Recognition/ Identification. After this the sound is analysed in terms of its different attributes (e.g., Pulmonic, Fricative, Voiceless, etc.) to see as to which category it falls within the IPA chart. This process is called Analysis. Once the category (e.g., Bilabial Fricative, etc.) is decided, further study is conducted in order to attribute the sound to a certain symbol. This process is called Transcription. Right after this Phoneticians study the ways to produce this sound. This is called production/ Articulation. Having determined the process of articulation, the Phoneticians have a last duty to perform – to devise the possible ways to train the non-natives to articulate the sound. This step of study is called Coaching/ Training.

The above-mentioned scientific processes involve hi-tech instruments (e.g., MRI for imaging the movements of the skull when a certain sound is produced, or sensors to note the strength of the air pressure at the time of articulation, etc.) and careful observations to ensure the most accurate and error-free results. And this all is possible only in a language lab. Thus the language lab is of vital importance wherever experimentation and analysis of this much level of sensitivity is required.

The components of a language lab
Oscilloscope, spectrogram, tuning forks, cassette players, headphones, mikes and other resources necessary for analysing the physical attributes of the sounds were considered the components of a language lab till the cyber technology widened its scope to replace most of the mentioned resources. Today a modern computer equipped with the necessary software and applications suffices all such purposes. In a lab for language learning, a set of few computers (depending upon the number of users) equipped with the necessary installations are connected to a server computer and used as a language lab in a comfortable room that is almost sound proof. A teacher, supported by a lab technician, easily handle many students efficiently with the help of the cyber technology without having to waste much of his time checking the assignments or preparing worksheets. Most of such operations are dealt with by the computers automatically. The advancement in cyber technology with respect to the teaching of language has put forward the notion of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and Computer Assisted Language Teaching (CALT).
The components in a language research-based lab are much more advanced and sensitive as compared to those in the language learning-based lab. The FMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) technology is a common example. It is used to take acute observations of functions of the brain while the language is used and the movements of the organs of the skull while certain sounds are produced. Experiments have shown that minor changes in the room temperature, atmospheric pressure, or even humidity in the air can affect the performance of a mike while the sounds are being recorded. Even sometimes the clothes the language scientists are wearing may be made of sound- absorbent fabric which can affect the deductions made by the analysts. Thus much care needs be taken while installing or using such a lab.