Highlights the use of corpus linguistics--or the the study of language through the use of a large collection of naturally-occurring written and spoken texts. Discusses corpora with computers, applications of corpus linguistics, and the University of Pennsylvania's Linguistic data Consortium, which is conducting a speech study to support linguistic…

Examines three aspects of computer technology that allow learners to develop cognitive and metacognitive skills and that facilitate learner autonomy: database organization in a self-access facility, computer-assisted language learning, and the use of menus to organize programs and files. An argument is made that technology should neither control…

Explores the use of language corpora, focusing on the use of corpora in the classroom by students rather than as a background resource for teachers and materials designers. (Author/VWL)

Introduces and describes the functions of the Opera del Vocabolario Italiano (OVI) database, a powerful Web-based, full-text, searchable electronic archive that contains early Italian vernacular texts whose composition may be dated prior to 1375. Examples are drawn from scholars in various disciplines who have employed the OVI in support of their…

Describes a Middlebury College second language vocabulary learning database that goes well beyond flashcards, because it keeps track of what students learn. Discusses further expansion of the system through collaborative filtering software to establish learner profiles. A learner profile could then be used to create instructional materials just…

Presents four sets of natural language processing-based exercises for which error correction and feedback are produced by means of a rich database in which linguistic information is encoded either at the lexical or the grammatical level. (Author/VWL)

Defines cognitive approaches to second-language acquisition research first in terms of goals and theoretical orientations, next, in terms of its methods (observations, experimentation, simulation), and last, in terms of its applications. (Author/VWL)

Provides a list of recently published children's books in Spanish for Spanish-speaking children or students learning Spanish as a second or foreign language. The list is divided into one section for very young children and another for middle grade students. Information is also given about a Web site where users can access a searchable database of…

Investigates the roles of "just," a lexical item that is among the most frequent in distinguishing academic speech data from roughly comparable written data in the Michigan Corpus of Academic English. Concordance analysis showed that "just" frequently co-occurs with metadiscourse and hedging; a closer functional analysis in…

Corpus-based instruction, also referred to as corpus-based linguistics, is essentially the study of genre texts for the production of materials that fit a specific group of second language learners. For example, if a group of students is learning the language in order to read medical articles, a specific teaching program can be set up based on the…

Illustrates the problems inherent in an extreme focus on form and accuracy or meaning and fluency in English-as-a-Second-Language classes. Notes that current language teaching theory views a dual, simultaneous focus as desirable and proceeds to analyze the features of an authentic example of dual focus. (20 references) (Author/CK)

The diversity of cognitive style and learning strategies will become a guiding principle for the organization of language discovery environments that have a dynamic and adaptive learner profile as their core. This article describes a model for these environments and details the contents of a technologically based language learner profile.…

Describes "SuperMemo," a memorization tool that uses an automated flashcard scheme that can include sound and graphics in the database of study items. Based on the learner's performance, "SuperMemo" schedules items to appear for review. Xia Li Ba Ren ("common person" in Chinese) is the name of a Chinese word processor that runs with a standard…

This article is divided into two parts. The first discusses theoretical issues related to the software program introduced, and the second deals with practical issues, including technical and pedagogical considerations in implementing the program. (Author/VWL)