In order to develop pragmatic competence in a language other than our own (L2), it is important to have enough knowledge of the cultural norms of the target language and enough opportunities to interact with a wide range of speakers to deploy different speech acts, registers, levels of politeness, conversational moves, and the like. The…

The process of studying a foreign language in Russian higher education institutions is carried out in a specially organized linguo-didactic language environment which is understood as a methodological framework designed in accordance with the peculiarities of a linguo-cultural community. It is aimed at combining learning methods and techniques to…

This article discusses principles involved in developing course materials for technology-mediated Chinese language learning, with examples from a new course designed to take into account the needs of distance and independent learners. Which learning environment is most efficient for a given learning activity needs to be carefully considered. It…

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…

E-Learning involves using a variety of computer and networking technologies to access training materials. The United Nations report, quoted in one of the Nigerian dailies towards the end of year 2006, says that most of the minor languages in the world would be extinct by the year 2050. African languages are currently suffering from discard by…

This paper describes the first prototype of an automated tool for detecting collocation errors in texts written by non-native speakers of English. Candidate strings are extracted by pattern matching over POS-tagged text. Since learner texts often contain spelling and morphological errors, the tool attempts to automatically correct them in order to…

The potential of online language learning has received much attention recently. This paper reports the design of an online writing system featuring learning support for non-native students during their writing process. The central premise is that in the online writing situation, students are in great need of writing aids. The proposed system…

Describes a beginners' French Web site that aims to expose learners to the authentic French of native speakers and to the French produced by tutors and learners within the Web site itself. Provides information for incorporating Web-based instruction. (Author/VWL)

People learning a new language have problems with various aspects of the language they want to learn--with its grammar, with its pronunciation, with its morphology... CALL tools have been provided for most of these linguistic levels, but comparatively little has been done about helping students with problems of meaning. We will argue that language…

Describes a controlled experiment conducted to determine the differences between native and nonnative speakers' strategies for transcribing dialogs, from the simple to the complex. Results confirmed that there were significant differences among three categories of the users' interactions with a computerized transcription system. (seven references)…

Describes the development of a domain model for English article usage which has been implemented within an Intelligent Language Tutoring System. Notes that in order to develop a domain model of a language or an aspect of a language, it is necessary to formalize the native speaker's knowledge in a way that is representationally adequate and…

Describes three pilot projects carried out with a special version of a computer-assisted language-learning activity, known as SEQUITUR, that seeks to develop awareness of cohesive devices and coherence features by displaying the start of a text and offering possible continuations. Usage logs of responses given by native and nonnative speakers of…

Describes the development of a speech-activated multimedia system for foreign-language training. The model allows students to engage native speakers on CD-ROM in lengthy face-to-face dialogs using natural spoken language. (Author/VWL)

Proposes a framework for computer assisted language learning that takes the target interaction as its starting point. To ascertain the practical usefulness of the framework, classroom research was carried out and the interaction was evaluated. (33 references) (CK)

Examines the use of e-mail to facilitate second language acquisition in an immersion education setting, with particular focus on an e-mail exchange between college students of Japanese as a second language in Australia and native speakers in Japan. Suggests that e-mail is a potentially valuable medium in language learning and could be useful in…