Replication studies have become an emerging line of research in recent decades, including in computer-assisted language learning (CALL). Exact replication, which closely follows a study’s protocol, is rare as it is hard to recreate results without establishing a highly controlled environment. However, using data available online, we were able to conduct an exact replication of Łodzikowski’s (2021) study, which reported on the use of an allophonic transcription tool by 55 Polish learners of English. Allophonic features are used by native speakers to produce acoustic variants of the same phoneme. The original study offered learners an allophonic transcription tool, examined how they used it and considered its association with phonological awareness. This study extended the original research by addressing the limitations of its regression and transcription analyses. Our findings allowed us to offer several suggestions on (1) how an allophonic transcription tool can be better designed to help learners, (2) how CALL researchers can acquire more data for more useful research and (3) why more replication studies are needed in CALL.

This article addresses a critical gap in international research concerning digital literacies and empowerment among adults who are English as an additional language (EAL) learners. In the Australian context, where digital communication and services are embedded in all aspects of life and work, proficiency in digital literacies, including advanced technologies like generative artificial intelligence (AI), is vital for working and living in Australia. Despite the increasing prevalence and significance of generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, there is a notable absence of dedicated programs to assist EAL learners in understanding and utilising generative AI, potentially impacting their employability and everyday life. This article presents findings from a larger study conducted within training providers, spanning adult educational institutions nationwide. Through analysis of data gathered from surveys and focus groups, the article investigates the knowledge and attitudes of students, educators, and leaders regarding integrating generative AI into the learning program for adult EAL learners. The results reveal a hesitance among educators, particularly concerning beginning language learners, in incorporating generative AI into educational programs. Conversely, many adult learners demonstrate enthusiasm for learning about its potential benefits despite having limited understanding. These disparities underscore the pressing need for comprehensive professional development for educators and program leaders. The findings also highlight the need to develop the AI literacy of learners to foster their understanding and digital empowerment. The article concludes by advocating for a systemic approach to include generative AI as an important part of learning programs with students often from adult migrant and refugee backgrounds.

Formes Cachées is a visuo-spatial puzzle in the form of a computer game. Users participate in the game by means of a natural language interface through which they ask questions and give instructions. Solving the puzzle therefore involves using language in a purposeful way as a tool rather than as subject matter. This article describes a French version of the game. In its current form the game would be mainly of novelty value in foreign language teaching, but its techniques could be used in creating software to cover a more extensive range of language.

The software, which runs under Microsoft Windows in 800 x 600 SVGA, may be downloaded from the CT1 Modern Languages World Wide Web server, http://www.hull.ac.uk/cti/software.htm

As one branch of CALL research moves further into the analysis of software integration into second language courses, this paper deals with many of the issues involved in the successful integration of a piece of multimedia software into a language curriculum designed for non-specialist advanced undergraduate students of French. After discussing the background and context of the research, the paper describes the software used and the surrounding integration aspects as well as the future use and development of the software as adequate courseware and research material.

The Internet offers a wealth of information and unlimited resources that teachers can use in order to expose students to authentic language use. Exposure, however, is not enough to trigger language acquisition. Students need to be involved in tasks that integrate the use of computers and enhance language acquisition. This paper outlines an instructional system designed to guide English as a Second Language (ESL) students through their exploration of the Internet and carry out projects that will ultimately help them improve their reading and writing skills and enrich their vocabulary. Through this instructional system the benefits of using the Internet for ESL purposes with different types of students in different educational environments can be maximised.

The paper presents the results of an evaluation study conducted in the context of a project called “Computer assisted Learning of German as a Foreign Language” for children of non-German mother tongue, undertaken in Hesse, Germany. The study aimed at finding out whether the integration of an audio component enhances the effectiveness of learning (remembering) vocabulary with CALL materials. LeseWelt, a computerised vocabulary development game for children, was used for the experiment. It is available in two different manners of presentation: visual only and visual plus acoustic. The paper briefly presents the two versions of the program, then describes the design of the experiment and reports the results.

The genesis of the ASTCOVEA project for French and German grammar learning under Phase 2 of TLIP is explained and the paper goes on to describe the design and structure of the system, showing representative screen shots and giving an example of how the system may be used to explore a particular grammar point in German. The point is mode, in condusion, that the ASTCOVEA approach can readily be adopted for other languages, including EFL, without major new programming.

This paper is about the development of an authoring tool for computerised reading comprehension exercises. The software tools used and some problems encountered using them are described. Using the authoring tools and running the program are discussed and the first experiences reported.

When Professor Jonathan Wilkenfeld presented ICONS to a group of staff and students from Karlsruhe College in Spring 1989 and subsequently let us in as “observers” of the ongoing simulation, we hardly suspected what a radically new kind of learning experience awaited us in an ordinary language class when we participated “for real” in Autumn 1989.

Several Modern Languages departments and Directors of Language Centres have approached the CTI Centre for Modern Languages for advice on networking CD-ROMs. Tim Hooton of Aston University has dealt with many of these queries on our behalf, and it is hoped that this article will prove useful to others who may be considering this issue.

As Japanese uses three writing systems (hiragana, katakana, and the ideograms known as kanji), and as materials in the target language include all three, it is a major challenge to learn to read and write quickly. This paper focuses on interactive multi-media methods of teaching Japanese reading which foster learner autonomy.

As little has been published on interactive multi-media methods of teaching Japanese reading, it seems likely that traditional resources are generally used for this activity. The courseware includes sound files showing the pronunciation of each kana as well as simultaneous animation showing how to write each character. This paper investigates whether interactive courseware, used independently of classroom interaction, results in measurably greater recognition of the hiragana syllabary than more traditional methods. After briefly situating the study in the context of research on the teaching of Japanese reading and learner autonomy, the paper will present the courseware as well as an empirical study comparing the results of the use of the courseware by learners at beginners’ level: one group using the courseware, and the other using paper-based materials. This is followed by an account of learner diaries written by zero-beginner level learners of Japanese using the courseware.

The study indicates that acquisition of a recognition-level knowledge of hiragana is approximately twice as fast using the courseware as using paper-based materials. Learners also learned to write the hiragana without explicit instruction.

Collaborative learning has attracted attention as pedagogic mediation to assist learners’ corpus consultation, but some studies have pointed to negative aspects of collaboration. Based on the two sides of collaboration in language learning, this study presents a qualitative investigation of different effects of collaboration depending on task types used in learners’ corpus consultation. This study examined two types of tasks: a conceptual task, which tested students’ competence to draw a generalizable conclusion through a meaning-making process of corpus consultation; and a procedural task, which asked students to complete problem-solving activities strategically through corpus analysis. Two groups of three students were given the same tasks of corpus consultation but asked to complete the tasks either collaboratively or individually. The students’ verbal and nonverbal behaviors during the task completion, pre-and post-interviews, and the instructor’s observation notes were the main sources of data for analysis. The results of this study showed that collaboration has significantly different effects depending on the task types of corpus consultation. The collaborative group (CG) outperformed the individual group (IG) in the conceptual corpus consultation task, but the procedural task was more efficiently completed by the IG than the CG. The underperformance of the CG in the procedural task seemed to be partly attributable to the role of established intersubjectivity and the power inequality in the CG. Despite some limitations, the findings of this study reveal task-dependent effects of collaboration in corpus consultation and suggest practical implications for more effective and pedagogically beneficial use of learners’ corpus consultation in second language (L2) instruction.

Within the context of on-going research,1 this paper explores the pedagogical implications of contrastive analyses of multiword units in English and Spanish based on electronic corpora as a CALL resource. The main tenets of collocations from a contrastive perspective – and the points of contact and departure between both languages – are discussed prior to examining the commonest types of verb + noun combinations as a significant case of so-called ‘de-lexicalized’, ‘light’, ‘empty’, ‘thin’, ‘stretched’ or ‘support verbs’. A qualitatively and quantitatively-oriented case study is accordingly conducted, determining the weight of dar in support verb constructions within the Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual (CREA) and of the English equivalent stretched verb constructions with give within the British National Corpus (BNC). Based on the empirical data obtained in this way, this paper provides relevant insights for more accurate translations, helping to enhance the collocational competence of L2 students, who tend to avoid constructions including empty verbs like give in favour of full-verb forms. The detailed findings in this paper come to shed light on the potential of CALL resources for improving the collocational usage of foreign-language learners, as quantitative and qualitative comparisons of collocations based on electronic corpora serve to highlight the similarities and, more importantly, the lexical and typological differences between both languages, thereby substantiating the invaluable role that corpus analysis may play for language teaching in general and for collocational knowledge and proficiency in particular.

Although the linguistic and sociocultural benefits of class-based email projects are widely acknowledged, there has been little investigation of what occurs after a curriculum activity finishes. In particular, what factors promote continued communication or cause communication breakdown have received less empirical attention. This paper explores factors which promote the continuation or non-continuation of email interactions between Australian and Japanese students after the conclusion of their coursework email exchange task via the analysis of two class surveys, in addition to collected email interaction and interviews with four key students (two continuers and two non-continuers) who serve as case studies. The experiences of these four students who were randomly assigned partners in the project are contrasted with those of a fifth student, Lucas, who chose to communicate with a long-term Japanese friend for the assessment, instead of being paired by the teacher. A number of factors which influence continuation are identified, including past sojourn experience, existing social networks, perceptions towards the curriculum task and their partners, shared topics of interest, time constraints, explicit statement of desire to continue, and potentially face-threatening behaviour, and several recommendations for enhancing online exchanges are given.