In this study, dynamic assessment is employed to help understand the developmental processes of two university Spanish learners as they produce a series of past narrations in a synchronous computer mediated environment. The assessments were conducted in six weekly one-hour chat sessions about various scenes of a Spanish language film. The analysis…

The paper tackles a central question in the field of Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning (ICALL): How can language learning tasks be conceptualized and made explicit in a way that supports the pedagogical goals of current Foreign Language Teaching and Learning and at the same time provides an explicit characterization of the Natural…

This paper provides a critical review of the literature between 1980 and 2005 on the evaluation of resources for computer-assisted language learning (CALL) with a particular emphasis on elementary education. An analysis of that literature indicates that there are a range of approaches to evaluation that have been somewhat monolithic and possibly…

Examines the Component Display Theory and its use in designing a goal-oriented computer-assisted language instruction and in quantifying the effectiveness of the instruction as a preliminary evaluation tool. (SED)

Describes an alternative approach to evaluation of computer assisted language learning software in the form of a flexible three-component framework. The approach targets operational description, teacher fit, and learner fit, from which teachers can develop their own evaluation procedures. (Author/CB)

Discusses the steps for selecting a suitable authoring system for computer-based training. The factors of power, ease of use, productivity and maintenance, embedded within evaluative scenarios, are used as evaluation guidelines. (SED)

Describes plans and efforts to shape speech-interactive computer-assisted language-learning programs. Current proficiency guidelines provide a practical framework for this development. (Author/VWL)

Analyzes results of a previous study on speech recognition (SR) technology for its ability to distinguish between native- and nonnative English speakers. The current study concludes that SR technology has potential for testing the oral proficiency of English-as-a-Second-Language students.(ER)

Introduces courseware authoring systems, which are defined as software devised for an instructional environment that simplifies courseware development. The process of courseware authoring consists of two basic elements--computer and lesson--which are further subdivided. The use of authoring systems to simplify each of these subcomponents is…

Evaluation of CUES, a computer program designed to improve the essay writing of English-as-a Second-Language students, measured student opinions on the effectiveness of the program. The research included the employment of both formal and informal evaluation measures, providing a balanced assessment of computer-assisted language learning software.…

This paper describes a method in oral fluency evaluation for Tourism English according to a corpus-based lexical approach. Our main research focus is placed on measuring oral skill competence among Tourism English (TE) learners by contrasting their word use and linguistic fluency, achieved in two types of oral tasks, with corpus data frequencies.…