Memorization is essential when new knowledge is based on association with existing knowledge. It is key in acquiring logographic languages, such as Chinese and Japanese. Such languages present challenges to students possessed of alphabet-based mother tongues. To meet these challenges, we discuss a technology-enhanced learning method to address the…

Because a large number of Chinese characters are commonly used in both Japanese and Chinese, Chinese-speaking learners of Japanese as a second language (JSL) find it more challenging to learn Japanese functional expressions than to learn other Japanese vocabulary. To address this challenge, we have developed "Jastudy," a…

Interacting with peers can be difficult for some students, due to their personality as well as to their learning styles. This paper shows how the Task-Based Approach (TBA) can be implemented and how digital resources can be used in language teaching and learning to enhance the students' experience and foster autonomy. To do so, I describe tasks I…

Vocabulary is an area that requires foreign language learners to work independently and continuously both in and out of class. In the Japanese EFL setting, for example, more than 97% of the population experiences approximately six years of English education at secondary school during which time they are required to learn approximately 3,000 words…

The Mango Suite is a set of three freely downloadable cross-platform authoring programs for flexible network-based CALL exercises. They are Adobe Air applications, so they can be used on Windows, Macintosh, or Linux computers, provided the freely-available Adobe Air has been installed on the computer. The exercises which the programs generate are…

Oral communication skills are essential for engineers today and, as they are included in accreditation criteria of educational programmes, their teaching and evaluation deserve attention. However, concrete aspects as to what should be taught and evaluated in relation to oral communication skills have not been sufficiently established. In this…

This paper presents a new version of Robo-Sensei's NLP (Natural Language Processing) system which updates the version currently available as the software package "ROBO-SENSEI: Personal Japanese Tutor" (Nagata, 2004). Robo-Sensei's NLP system includes a lexicon, a morphological generator, a word segmentor, a morphological parser, a syntactic…

This paper discusses several design issues in the development of a new online Japanese textbook, called "Robo-Sensei: Japanese Curriculum with Automated Feedback". When it is completed, the new online textbook will present a full Japanese curriculum. It extends a previously published online software program, "Robo-Sensei: Personal Japanese Tutor"…

In this paper we present a system for automatic correction of errors made by learners of English. The system has two novel aspects. First, machine-learned classifiers trained on large amounts of native data and a very large language model are combined to optimize the precision of suggested corrections. Second, the user can access real-life web…

This paper reports on a project involving software selection in the context of a curriculum redesign of a university level Japanese language program. The project aimed to improve learning outcomes, increase flexibility in student access, and increase flexibility in approaches to teaching and learning, through the use of a variety of software…

In learning the Japanese language, kanji idiom learning is as important as kanji (Chinese characters) learning. A kanji idiom intelligent computer assisted instructional (ICAI) system called JUGAME was developed. It can handle approximately 3,000 kanji idioms and has a puzzle game environment within a learning environment using Open Software…

Presents an efficient method for extracting collocations from corpora, which uses the cost criteria measure and a tree-based data structure. Proposes a bilingual collocation concordancer, a tool that provides language learners with collocation correspondences between a native and foreign language. (Eight references) (Author/CK)

GPARS is a generalized transition network system designed for language study by both students and researchers. It generalizes the Augmented Transition Network formalism by allowing top-down, bottom-up, depth-first, breadth-first, determininistic, and nondeterministic parsing strategies to be freely intermixed. (26 references) (Author/LB)

Describes "KanjiCard," an interactive self-tutorial program for beginning students of Japanese to learn Kanji, Chinese characters used in the Japanese language. The Macintosh-developed approach uses "HyperCard" technology, computer-assisted animation, and voice digitizing to achieve enhanced graphic presentation. (Author/CB)

The Macintosh HyperCard environment has become a popular platform for Japanese language courseware because of its flexibility and ease of programing. This project created Japanese bitmap font files for the JIS Levels 1 and 2, and writing XFCNs for font manipulation, Japanese kana input, and answer correction. (12 references) (Author/LB)