Looks at an innovative organizational tool for syllabus design of English-as-a-Foreign-Language, computer-assisted language learning writing classes that is borrowed from the interdisciplinary field of information architecture. The tool around which this syllabus design is structured is the Location-Alphabet-Time-Category-Hierarchy (LATCH), to…

Roger Bowers talks to Numa Markee, Director of the Language Learning Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, about people, computers, and language teaching. (Author/VWL)

Computer-assisted language-learning literature points to a need for experimentation with innovative learning structures to realize the full potential of recent technological developments. Reports on a research project that addresses these concerns by exploring the experiences of 23 French second-language learners as they worked independently with…

Synthesizes information that is available on software evaluation and provides a software evaluation checklist to help educators examine software based on linguistic and pedagogical criteria. The checklist allows educators to compare and contrast software products, enabling them to select software that is best suited to their classrooms.…

Provides a description of the Nuevos Destinos CD-ROM, a joint production for students learning Spanish at the advanced-beginning, intermediate-low, or native-speaker level. Nuevos Destinos involves students in meaningful ways by asking them to solve real-world problems encountered in law offices. (Author/VWL)

Describes the development of the "Portes ouvertes" CD-ROM, which was produced as an integrated part of a first-year method for elementary French. Details the design and production of the CD-ROM with reference to video and textbook elements where such reference is indispensable to an understanding of pedagogical foundations. (Author/VWL)

Discusses a project to design and implement a small French vocabulary tutor for the World Wide Web. Highlights salient features and design of the tutor and focuses on two variants of a module on technology-related vocabulary that were created using very straightforward html code and JavaScript. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the use of interactive technologies in primary language programs in Tasmanian schools in Australia. The benefits of a computer-based technology package for learning, curriculum connections, the impact of the technology package for teacher networking, and the impact of the technology package on teaching and learning are highlighted…

Computers can aid students of Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) by rapidly teaching the language's 2000 written characters, automatically translating words and documents, and assisting with input of Japanese texts. Introduces and evaluates new software technologies that significantly ease the reading and writing of Japanese. (Author/VWL)

Presents BANZAI, a new intelligent language tutor program that is designed to develop learners' grammatical and sentence production skills in Japanese as well as to instill cultural knowledge about Japan. Illustrates actual lesson plans and sample exercises provided by BANZAI. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the assessment of learner strategies in the computer assisted language learning context, and the pros and cons. Reviews empirical studies that have used the computer to record the interactive process where second language learners demonstrate different on-line language learning behavior, operationalized as types of learner strategies.…

Discusses usability engineering for multimedia learning environments and considers how it can benefit the design and development of educational software. Describes the design and development of interactive multimedia software for second-language learning that included input from users and field testing for usability. (Author/LRW)

Probes reasons why many teachers remain uncommitted to computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and proposes some remedies. In particular, it is argued that CALL should not be too closely associated with self-access or autonomy, and that teachers are needed to drive the CALL process. (Author/VWL)

Presents an analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data collected for a study of the impact of World Wide Web use in elementary French and German courses. (Author/VWL)

The facilitative role of explicit information in second language acquisition has been supported by a significant body of research (Alanen, 1995; Carroll & Swain, 1993; de Graaff, 1997; DeKeyser, 1995; Ellis, 1993; Robinson, 1996, 1997), but counterevidence is also available (Rosa & ONeill, 1999; VanPatten & Oikkenon, 1996). This experimental study…