This paper discusses challenges and opportunities arising during the development of open educational resources (OERs) to support communicative language teaching (CLT) with interactive whiteboards (IWBs). iTILT (interactive Technologies in Language Teaching), a European Lifelong Learning Project, has two main aims: (a) to promote "best…

With their realistic animation, complex scenarios and impressive interactivity, computer simulation games might be able to provide context-rich, cognitively engaging virtual environments for language learning. However, simulation games designed for L2 learners are in short supply. As an alternative, could games designed for the mass-market be…

This article discusses the use of the General Architecture for Text Engineering (GATE) as a tool for the development of ICALL and NLP applications. It outlines a paradigm shift in software development, which is mainly influenced by projects such as the Free Software Foundation. It looks at standards that have been proposed to facilitate the…

The majority of writing tasks assigned to second language (L2) learners tend to target an abstract audience and the writing generated is not meant for real or meaningful purposes. The emergence of Web 2.0 concepts has created a potential educational environment where students have access to a widely distributed, authentic audience with a simple…

This article discusses the learning process undertaken by language teachers in a cyber face-to-face teacher training program. Eight tertiary Chinese language teachers attended a 12-week training program conducted in an online synchronous learning environment characterized by multimedia-based, oral and visual interaction. The term "cyber…

This article is an effort to add to computer-assisted language learning by extending a study on an essay critiquing system (ECS) feedback to secondary school language learners' writing. The study compared two groups of participants' performance, namely the treatment group which received both the system feedback and teacher feedback (i.e., blended…

Today Web 2.0 technologies, including blogs, are presenting both teachers and learners with new horizons in the field of language teaching and learning. A blog is an online journal which can be continuously updated by its users [Matheson, D. (2004). Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: Some trends in online journalism. "New Media &…

Recently, the impact of globalization and the dominant status of English have provoked critical discussion in the L2 motivation field. Traditional concepts such as integrative motivation lose their explanatory power when English is becoming a "must-have" basic educational skill and when there is no clearly defined target language community. In…

Intelligent language tutoring systems (ILTS) typically analyze learner input to diagnose learner language properties and provide individualized feedback. Despite a long history of ILTS research, such systems are virtually absent from real-life foreign language teaching (FLT). Taking a step toward more closely linking ILTS research to real-life…

Most existing web-based language learning exercises may be termed "static" in that their content is fixed; the sentences exist in the form in which the developer wrote them, and the scope of the exercise and the variety of interactions can only be expanded by manually adding to the existing stock. One solution to this problem is an application…

Videoconferencing offers new opportunities for language testers to assess speaking ability in low-stakes diagnostic tests. To be considered a trusted testing tool in language testing, a test should be examined employing appropriate validation processes [Chapelle, C.A., Jamieson, J., & Hegelheimer, V. (2003). "Validation of a web-based ESL…

This study examines (1) the effects of hypertext gloss use on L2 vocabulary acquisition in computerized reading contexts; (2) which specific combination of either text-only (single) or text + visual (multiple) hypertext glosses is more effective on L2 vocabulary acquisition; and (3) potential moderators to systematically account for between study…

This study investigated the effects of training learners of English as a foreign language with different rates of speech and controls over speech rate. Subjects were put into one of four treatment groups: (A) trained on listening comprehension materials recorded at a fast speed, (B) trained on slow recordings, (C) given some choice about the…

Corpus consultation is gaining in prominence as a language learning tool. This approach to language analysis has made its way into the language classroom where its presence ranges from the presentation of printed concordance data with accompanying tasks to the direct use of concordancing software by learners themselves to carry out analyses of…

Task-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) may represent an optimal psycholinguistic environment for form-meaning connections, but learners do not receive feedback from a trusted authority. Intelligent computer-assisted language learning (ICALL) provides feedback, but the encouragement of communicative interaction remains largely…