In response to the need for research on the contextualized use of CALL resources, the authors conducted a survey on instructor use of a popular online Spanish language learning resource to provide insight into how foreign language instructors’ use of online resources are influenced by socio-institutional factors and instructor motivational factors such as personal background and teaching philosophy. From the 118 survey participants, the authors used quantitative techniques to choose three case studies that represented the diversity of respondents who use the resource in their teaching. They present overall trends and qualitative profiles of the three instructors with the intent to gain an overall understanding of the nature of how the resource is used, not only to provide direction for future quantitative research, but also to illustrate the utility of qualitative research in providing such understanding. Upon analysis of the case studies, the authors conclude that the actual use of a CALL resource may be far from the ideal use the designer intended, and that the use of CALL resources is highly contingent on the sociocultural context of the implementation of the resource. Instructor comments seem to point not towards the physical CALL infrastructure of an instructor’s workplace as a determining factor of resource use, but towards the CALL culture and collegiality of the environment. Most revealing of the nature of an instructor’s use of a resource seems to be the congruence of site features with the instructor’s teaching philosophy, itself the product of a variety of factors.

Morphology consists of inflection and word formation. In foreign language teaching it occurs mainly in the form of inflectional paradigms. While this is certainly an important part of mastering a foreign language, an adequate use of morphology, both inflection and word formation, can facilitate the acquisition of foreign language vocabulary. By applying word formation rules as a way to structure their knowledge, advanced learners can multiply their active vocabulary. A practical problem in using inflectional classes and word formation processes in vocabulary teaching is that the information required to devise exercises is not readily available. In a dictionary, it is not possible to get an overview of word formation relationships or classes of words belonging to the same inflectional class. The nature of word formation processes even makes it impossible in principle to fully cover them in a printed dictionary without creating a lot of redundancy. An electronic dictionary does not automatically solve the problems involved, unless it is structured appropriately. In the Word Manager (WM) project morphological relationships have been taken as a starting point in the design of the lexicon. As a consequence, the lexicon is structured in terms of word formation and inflection rules, in such a way that complete and flexible access to the morphological processes and classes of a language is guaranteed. The full flexibility of WM lexicons requires that the entire system be installed locally. For a dedicated operational component, however, no such installation is necessary. It can be installed as an independently running program or be made available through the Internet. Two such applications (which are freely available) and their possible uses for teaching purposes are described.

This study replicates the research conducted by Pérez-Paredes, Ordoñana Guillamón and Aguado Jiménez (2018) on language teachers’ perceptions on the use of OER language processing technologies in mobile-assisted language learning. It expands the initial research study by adding Polish, Portuguese, and Turkish educational contexts, surveying 239 English as a foreign language teachers in these three countries. The main findings indicate that there are several differences among the three countries, including institutional support regarding the use of mobile devices and the training provided to the teachers. Based on the data collected in these countries, it was found that mobile devices are mainly used for teaching and learning on online platforms. Smartphones were one of the most used devices in English language teaching, while computer labs at schools seem to have lost their popularity. Regarding the technologies available, the results of the study reveal that the participants are most familiar with online dictionaries, spell checkers, and online collocation dictionaries, and the participants’ qualifications are linked to certain differences in familiarity and use of technologies in the classroom. Variables such as gender, age, and years of experience do not show any difference in the familiarity or frequency of use of those technologies. The main findings of the study point out the importance of institutional support and training regarding the use of mobile devices and open educational resources, which are no longer a choice but a necessity in education.

There are now many CALL authoring packages that can create interactive websites and a large number of language teachers are writing materials for the whole range of such packages. Currently, each product stores its data in different formats thus hindering interoperability, pooling of digital resources and moving between software packages based in different technology. The use of Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) for data storage goes a long way to solve this problem and allows for the easy conversion of exercises. Starting from a desire to develop a common format between Hot Potatoes, WELTS (part of the WELL project) and the Interactive Language Learning package from London Metropolitan University, a new version of the Interactive Language Learning software, now renamed Guildhall Interactive Software for Multimedia On-line (GISMO), has made such conversion possible. Given the immense resources required to develop the critical mass of material required to make online CALL relevant to an individual’s teaching practice, such a common approach is required to facilitate the pooling of resources. Should a bureaucratic or financial decision in an institution result in a change of software, teachers need to be able to easily convert their legacy material. XML technology can facilitate interoperability, thereby increasing potential accessibility by allowing teachers and students to have the use of a greater amount of pedagogical material. It is further proposed, using these developments, to create a large pool of exercises for practice and assessment that is independent of the delivery approach employed. This will obviate the need for teachers to keep reproducing basic language learning material and allow for the expansion of online CALL into more imaginative areas. This possibility introduces the question of standards within XML and whether it is necessary to further specify how the material is stored, perhaps using a standard such as the ‘IMS Question & Test Interoperability Specification’ or whether XML is a sufficient standard in itself.

This paper examines the relationship between Information Technology (IT) and an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course. This relationship is examined in the context of pre-sessional summer courses at British Universities. The paper provides a rationale for the inclusion of an IT component on an EAP course, and considers why a number of IT areas are not yet being fully exploited by EAP units at British Universities.

Le projet SAFRAN a pour objectif le développement d'une interface dédiée à I'enseignement du français assisté par ordinateur, interface dans laquelle sont intégrés progressivement des outils de traitement automatique des langues naturelles. Ces outils, dans le cadre du projet SAFRAN, sont I'analyseur syntaxique et le synthétiseur vocal FIPSvox, le dictionnaire électronique conceptuel FR-Tool et le conjugueur FLEX, lls permettent I'accès à des ressources linguistiques riches et variées, favorisent I'expérimentation et enfin, offrent un support au diagnostic. Notre article fait le compte-rendu de deux années d'activités scientifiques pour lesquelles nos efforts ont porté sur le développement d'un module sur I'enseignement de la phonétique du français qui intègre les outils de TALN mentionnŕs supra.

Since 1984, CALL materials have been used on a regular basis in the German Department at the University of Aberdeen in integrated language courses, in order to practise and consolidate the material taught in face-to-face contact classes. CALL work essentially forms a backup to the taught part of the course. What the students are taught one week, they practise in their CALL class the following week, and additionally have the opportunity to work on further exercises on a private-study basis. Within the field of language learning, our experience suggests that the computer can be above all a superb tool for revision and consolidation. With the development and use of hypertext materials, there is more than just the possibility that it can now become even more effective than hitherto.

This paper examines research in the field of collaborative learning, concentrating on aspects suitable for use in an intelligent computer assisted language learning (ICALL) system. Current work on the project focuses on the construction of a student model, based on the notion that a model constructed and repaired through collaboration between the system and student will lead to a more accurate representation of the learner's beliefs, and is less likely to be regarded with suspicion by the student. Further, the act of collaboration should promote reflection on both the language to be learnt and the student's approaches to learning.

Despite their potential benefits, teacher-created animated cartoons have not found much room in second-language (L2) research, probably due to some technical challenges involved in creating them. This paper reports the findings of a mixed-methods embedded experimental study, designed to test the impact of tailor-made animated cartoons on the correct use of common punctuation rules in English. The participants were 112 Turkish-first language (L1) learners of English, assigned to either the treatment or control group through random cluster sampling. The instructional materials in the treatment group included teacher-created animated cartoons, exercises designed using SCORM-compliant software, and a forum for discussions in Moodle. The participants in the control group, on the other hand, used PowerPoint presentations (PPTs) instead of animated cartoons and completed the same follow-up activities. Quantitative results suggested that the treatment and control groups’ post-test and late post-test scores significantly differed in favour of the former. Moreover, qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and document analysis revealed that the participants, especially those in the treatment group, viewed this learning experience highly positively. The findings globally imply that tailor-made animated cartoons might facilitate the learning of punctuation and help raise students’ awareness of it.

Recently the NCET (National Council for Educational Technology) published a survey of the results of various studies on the evaluation and effectiveness of computer assisted teaching in Great Britain.1 This survey lists several positive effects of computer assisted teaching in a wide variety of educational applications. These range from increased motivation and eagerness to learn by disturbed or handicapped children to an increase in the performance of good learners by e.g. training analytic and divergent thinking.

Studies with an explicit focus on dropouts in blended language learning (BLL) are rare and non-existent in the Asian context. This study replicates the early qualitative interview study by Stracke (2007), who explored why foreign language learners drop out of a BLL class. While the 2007 study was carried out in the German higher education context, we conducted this study at a university in Vietnam, where we conducted semi-structured interviews with five students who had left their blended English course after the first semester of study. Our findings indicate that the successful complementarity and integration of the blend components, the crucial role of teacher support and feedback within a learner-centred environment, interactive learning materials, a high level of interaction, and a good relationship between students and teachers are key for students’ perception of a successful blended class and retention. The lack of complementarity between the components of the blend remains a major reason for students’ dissatisfaction that resulted in them leaving the course in both the 2007 study and this study. Our study allows for a deep understanding of the reasons why Vietnamese EFL students leave a BLL course, thus providing some evidence for pedagogical adjustments for the delivery of current BLL classes in Vietnam and similar contexts. Understanding the reasons why students drop out can help improve the effectiveness of these programs and lead to higher retention rates, a reduction of costs (both financial but also emotional), an increase in student satisfaction, and a better student experience.

This paper reports on work at the Open University's Centre for Modern Languages (CML) and Institute of Educational Technology (IET), on the use of technology to support language learners working at home and in virtual groups via the Internet. We describe the Lexica On-Line project, which created a learning environment for Open University students of French, incorporating computer-based lexical tools to De used at home, an on-line discussion forum, and guided access to the Francophone Web. We report on some of the outcomes of this project, and discuss the effectiveness of such a configuration for the promotion of reflective language-learning practices.

This article examines the extent to which CALL and Communicative methodology are compatible. Although attempting to be relevant to language teaching in general, it is written from an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) perspective and considers only the British tradition of the Communicative Approach.

This paper argues that CALL practitioners need to remain constantly aware of the political context in which they operate, so that they can the better exploit opportunities to win funding, gain status for their activities and generally succeed more often in the prime aim of enhancing the practice of language learning. It seeks to situate EUROCALL's own activity as an organisation at an important point of convergence in the global context. It concludes with some quasi political advice both for individuals and for the organisation as a whole.

In this paper, we present the Web-based CALL environment (or WALL) which is currently being experimented with at the University of Paris 13 in the Computer Science Department of the Institut Universitaire de Technologie. Our environment is being developed to teach computer science (CS) English to CS French-speaking students, and will be extended to other languages for specific purposes such as, for example, English or French for banking, law, economics or medicine, where on-line resources are available.

English, and more precisely CS English is, for our students, a necessary tool, and not an object of study. The learning activities must therefore stimulate the students' interest and reflection about language phenomena. Our pedagogical objective, relying on research acquisition (Wokusch 1997) consists in linking various texts together with other documents, such as different types of dictionaries or other types of texts, so that knowledge can be acquired using various appropriate contexts.

Language teachers are not supposed to be experts in fields such as computer sciences or economics. We aim at helping them to make use of the authentic documents that are related to the subject area in which they teach English. As shown in Foucou and Kübler (1998) the wide range of resources available on the Web can be processed to obtain corpora, i.e. teaching material. Our Web-based environment therefore provides teachers with a series of tools which enable them to access information about the selected specialist subject, select appropriate specialised texts, produce various types of learning activities and evaluate students' progress.

Commonly used textbooks Tor specialised English offer a wide range of learning activities, but they are based on documents that very quickly become obsolete, and that are sometimes widely modified. Moreover, they are not adaptable to the various levels of language of the students. From the students' point of view, working on obsolete texts that are either too easy or too difficult can quickly become demotivating, not to say boring.

In the next section, we present the general architecture of the teaching/learning environment; the method of accessing and using it, for teachers as well as for students, is then described. The following section deals with the actual production of exercises and their limits. We conclude and present some possible research directions.

This paper presents an innovative application of concordancing to the study of comprehension based on the hypothesis that the presence of noise in raw concordance data brings to light the existence of strings liable to cause unsuspected comprehension problems to language learners. The paper explains how the hypothesis was arrived at before proceeding to describe and discuss an experiment specially designed so as to test its validity. In the course of this experiment eight post A-level students and two native speakers/teachers of French were observed processing the raw output of a concordance of the string bien que. Details of the concordance data are given, broken down in broad categories (concessive conjunction bien que, resultative conjunction si bien que, adverb + completive, etc.). The findings are reported in three stages corresponding to those of the experiment: a pilot study involving two of the students, a repeat of the experiment with the two native speakers, and a second learner study with a larger, more representative sample of six students. Between them the results are found to provide empirical evidence in support of the hypothesis. The main outcome is that contrary to the native speakers, none of the post A-level students was able to interpret all the citations correctly. Other significant results are that difficulties were spread unevenly across citations and were more common among those with lower grades. The implications for language pedagogy are then examined. The paper concludes that concordances can be helpful in predicting potential pitfalls and ends with some suggestions for future research.

Recent studies on technology-mediated task-based learning have shown the impact of task design and modality on English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. However, it is unclear what effect technology-mediated tasks have on learners’ English language skills. This paper presents a classroom-based study that showed how using technology-mediated tasks impacted students’ learning experiences and fostered the development of specific speaking and writing subskills in an EFL secondary education context. Forty-two EFL intermediate learners completed two speaking and two writing tasks from the Cambridge B2 First exam using mobile devices. The participants were divided into a pen-and-paper group (N = 21) and an iPad group (N = 21). Learning outcomes were measured using a pre-test/post-test design with a statistical comparison of ratings across tasks. A qualitative content analysis of lesson observations and student and teacher interviews served as an additional dataset to shed light on learners’ experiences. Descriptive statistics revealed that the iPad group achieved higher scores in pronunciation and accuracy (speaking) and essay organisation features (writing). Tasks involving the active use of the tool for content creation, rehearsing speaking performances, and accessing authentic materials were the most successful among students.

The aim of the paper is to investigate the usefulness of different illustration formats in online English learners’ dictionaries for the accuracy and speed of meaning comprehension as well as immediate and delayed retention. In a controlled online experiment, the meaning of selected English words and phrases had to be explained with the help of purpose-built monolingual dictionary entries. Four experimental conditions were created, which reflected the presence and format of illustrations in the entries: color pictures, greyscale pictures, line drawings, no illustrations. Meaning retention was checked immediately after exposure and two weeks later. The results show that it is worthwhile to include illustrations in online learners’ dictionaries and suggest the most beneficial illustration formats. Line drawings prove the most recommendable; they considerably improve meaning comprehension, reduce reception time, and stimulate the best immediate and delayed retention. Color pictures emerge as the second best. They produce results comparable with those for line drawings, except they do not help so much to remember meaning in the long run. Entries with greyscale pictures are the least recommendable. They do not contribute more to meaning comprehension and delayed retention. Yet, they even shorten reception time and help users to remember more words immediately after exposure.