This article discusses the comparative effectiveness of student input at different times during the design of CALL tools for learning kanji, the Japanese characters of Chinese origin. The CALL software "package" consisted of tools to facilitate the writing, reading and practising of kanji characters in context. A pre-design questionnaire…

Most research on text-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) in language learning has used output logs as the sole data source. I review interactionist and sociocultural SCMC research, focusing in particular on the question of technological determinism, and conclude that, from whichever perspective, reliance on output logs leads…