The development of both the materials for an intermediate-level hybrid German writing course and the software in a virtual learning environment for the course may be viewed as activity systems. Viewing the individual components of each system as interrelated enables us to conceptualize the complexities of the development process, which goes well…

Groups of editors and authors used a variety of technologies to create a cohesive team that produced a textbook series with instructor manuals along with a supporting Web site. Describes the development of the groups for this materials publication project in terms of six areas--situation, leadership, individual versus group goals, norms, roles,…

Details the current status, the future plans and the reasoning behind a five-year, campus-wide educational experiment for the integration of computers into the foreign language curriculum at MIT. The project is to use artificial intelligence in natural processing and to include interactive video and interactive audio components. (Author/SED)

Illustrates the advantages and difficulties of using multimedia in the second language French classroom from the point of view of both the teacher and the learners. (Author/VWL)

Argues that when the principles of engineering are applied to development of computer-assisted language learning software, resulting products are more reliable, easier to maintain, and easier to modify later. Those principles were used in developing the Elementary Language Study Exerciser, a program that drills students and corrects their written…