Intelligent computer-assisted language learning: A bibliography

This bibliography focuses on works discussing intelligent computer-assisted language learning (ICALL). It includes over 200 entries divided into three sections: (1) collections, special issues and bibliographies, (2) general/theoretical works, (3) specific applications.Alan Bailin (Ph.D., McGill) is Associate Editor ofComputers and the Humanities. He has participated in the field of Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning as a writer, editor, and researcher. He has also published in the areas of linguistics and semiotics.     

The use of natural language processing in computer-assisted language instruction

This article describes the natural language processing techniques used in two computer-assisted language instruction programs: VERBCON and PARSER. VERBCON is a template-type program which teaches students how to use English verb forms in written texts. In the exercises verbs have been put into the infinitive, and students are required to supply appropriate verb forms. PARSER is intended to help students learn English sentence structure. Using a lexicon and production rules, it generates sentences and asks students to identify their grammatical parts. The article contends that only by incorporating natural language processing techniques can these programs offer a substantial number of exercises and at the same time provide students with informative feedback. Alan Bailin is director of the Effective Writing Program at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. Philip Thomson is a programmer in the Faculty of Medecine, University of Western Ontario.     

The role of native grammars in correcting errors in second language learning

This paper describes VP², a system that has been implemented to tutor nonnative speakers in English. This system differs from many tutoring systems by employing an explicit grammar of its user's native language. This grammar enables VP² to customize its responses by addressing problems due to interference of the native language. The system focuses on the acquisition of English verb-particle and verb-prepositional phrase constructions. Its correction strategy is based upon comparison of the native language grammar with an English grammar. VP² is a modular system: its grammar of a user's native language can easily be replaced by a grammar of another language. The problems and solutions presented in this paper are related to the more general question of how modelling previous knowledge facilitates instruction in a new skill.     

Natural language understanding within a cognitive semantics framework

The article argues that cognitive linguistic theory may prove an alternative to the Montague paradigm for designing natural language understanding systems. Within this framework it describes a system which models language understanding as a dialogical process between user and computer. The system operates with natural language texts as input and represent language meaning as entity-relationship diagrams.     

Enhancing web-based language learning through self-monitoring

Abstract  The present study investigated the effects of a self-monitoring strategy on web-based language learning. Both students' academic performance and their motivational beliefs were investigated. The interaction between the use of a self-monitoring strategy and the level of learners' English proficiency was also examined. A total of 99 college students who were enrolled in classes for Freshmen English participated in this study. The experimental group was led to a web page with self-monitoring form for recording study time and environment, learning process, predicting test scores, and self-evaluation while the control group was not. It was found that (1) the self-monitoring strategy had a significant main effect on students' academic performance and their motivational beliefs; students who applied the self-monitoring strategy outperformed students who did not apply the self-monitoring strategy on both academic performance and motivational beliefs regardless of their English proficiency level; and (2) the influence of self-monitoring was greater on the lower English level students than on the higher English level students. The positive findings suggest that encouraging students to develop self-monitoring could help increase the success of online learning. Thus, applying a self-monitoring strategy is strongly recommended for web-based instruction.     

Generating and evaluating evaluative arguments

Evaluative arguments are pervasive in natural human communication. In countless situations people attempt to advise or persuade their interlocutors that something is desirable (vs. undesirable) or right (vs. wrong). With the proliferation of on-line systems serving as personal advisors and assistants, there is a pressing need to develop general and testable computational models for generating and presenting evaluative arguments. Previous research on generating evaluative arguments has been characterized by two major limitations. First, researchers have tended to focus only on specific aspects of the generation process. Second, the proposed approaches were not empirically tested. The research presented in this paper addresses both limitations. We have designed and implemented a complete computational model for generating evaluative arguments. For content selection and organization, we devised an argumentation strategy based on guidelines from argumentation theory. For expressing the content in natural language, we extended and integrated previous work in computational linguistics on generating evaluative arguments. The key knowledge source for both tasks is a quantitative model of user preferences. To empirically test critical aspects of our generation model, we have devised and implemented an evaluation framework in which the effectiveness of evaluative arguments can be measured with real users. Within the framework, we have performed an experiment to test two basic hypotheses on which the design of the computational model is based; namely, that our proposal for tailoring an evaluative argument to the addressee's preferences increases its effectiveness, and that differences in conciseness significantly influence argument effectiveness. The second hypothesis was confirmed in the experiment. In contrast, the first hypothesis was only marginally confirmed. However, independent testing by other researchers has recently provided further support for this hypothesis.     

Computers and translation: integrating IT into undergraduate foreign language learning

Abstract There are still many institutions of higher education in the UK, both universities and polytechnics, that have not taken on board the application of information technology to foreign language learning. Apart from considerations of cost, there is also the problem of time—deciding how best to use the limited time at one's disposal for exploring computer applications to foreign language learning. Both problems may be compounded by the mistaken belief that effective use of this 'new' technology necessarily involves learning one or more programming languages. This paper endeavours to show that recent advances in both software and hardware have produced computing tools of particular interest to translation and the translator, and that, since translation is a reality for large numbers of undergraduates in the UK, such tools represent an obvious starting point for the introduction of IT into the undergraduate curriculum.     

基于WEB的多媒体课件开发

本文详细介绍了如何使用Flsh、Authorware和Director开发可实现流式传播的多媒体课件的设计方案及实现过程。还通过比较的方式确定以Windows Media配合Dreamweaver开发以视频为主的多媒体课件具有相对的优越性，更适合制作网上课件的发展。     

Developing Language Technologies with the Support of Language Resources and Evaluation Programs

The role of language resources and language technology evaluation is now recognized as being crucial for the development of written and spoken language processing systems. Given the increasing challenge of multilingualism in Europe, the development of language technologies requires a more internationally distributed effort. This paper first describes several recent and on-going activities in France aimed at the development of language resources and evaluation. We then outline a new project intended to enhance collaboration, cooperation, and resource sharing among the international language processing research community.     

基于XML的在线多媒体课件设计与实现

简要分析了现有的课件存在的问题,提出了一种可扩展的基于XML的在线多媒体课件层次信息模型,利用XML语言定义了课件标记语言对该模型进行XML绑定,通过ASP代码成功把XML引入了课件标记文档中,并利用XSL的解析器来解析转换,实现了能在浏览器中表现的在线多媒体课件库系统.通过现有的技术可实现基于XML的在线多媒体交互教学是行之有效的,而且符合CELTS内容包装规范.从而有效地解决了多媒体课件网络化过程中出现的一些问题.     

A full and efficient machine tractable dictionary for natural language processing: A revised version of the CUVOALD

A lexicon is an essential part of any natural language processing system. The size, content and format of the lexicon is crucial in determining the power and sophistication of a natural language processing system. However, a lexicon which provides comprehensive, consistent and accurate lexical information and which is in a format facilitating fast retrieval is not easily available. This paper reports on a project which aims at the development of such a lexicon. The resulting lexicon is actually the modified and extended version of the machine tractable version of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. The modification and extension concentrate mainly on the aspects of comprehensiveness, consistency, explicitness, accuracy and the dictionary format. The modified and extended version is considered a desirable source of lexical information for any natural language processing system.Si-Qing Chen received her Ph.D. in computational linguistics (1992) from Guangzhou Institute of Foreign Languages. His research interests include natural language processing, computer-assisted language teaching, and computational lexicography. She is currently furthering her study and research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has published several articles on psycholinguistics, language teaching, philosophy of language, and natural language processing in, amongst other journals, Language Learning and the CALICO Journal.Luomai Xu is an associate professor in the Department of English at Guangzhou Institute of Foreign Languages. He has been working on several projects and published several articles on natural language processing.     

Bootstrapping in a language learning environment

Abstract   This paper addresses a fundamental dilemma in the design of intelligent language learning environments: the more freedom a system offers to learners in the use of the target language, the more unwieldy the data is which the learners produce and the less able the system is to support inferences about learners from that data. It is shown how in a platform where learners and teachers interact, the teachers' feedback which is archived in the system and indexed to the learners' target language production can constitute affordances that support a process of bootstrapping from raw language output to potential insights into the learners' interlanguage and gaps in their grasp of the target language. The approach is illustrated with three types of learner errors uncovered in the corpus of learner English through this bootstrapping heuristic.     

The systems programming language,Malus

This paper reports on the design and development of a high level language, Malus, for use in implementing a time-sharing system. Emphasized are the ways that the language and its compiler accommodate the specialized requirements of systems programming and programmers. Among these are the need to generate highly efficient object code, to allow inter-programmer communication by program self-documentation, and to define and organize system tables and data. In addition, the Malus compiler is highly modular; thus the language may be modified or augmented in response to user needs unforeseen during langauge design. Systems programs cannot be machine independent and Malus allows explicit control of emitted code when an application requires particular efficiency or use of privileged instructions. There is also a facility allowing nested redefinition of identifiers. Efficient storage management and data access is effected by the availability of based structures, a register storage class and built-in functions to facilitate their use. Malus is evaluated both in terms of some general criteria for systems implementation languages and by an appraisal of user reactions. While this assessment shows a few areas where the language might be improved, it is felt that Malus is a valuable and effective tool for systems implementation.     

Computer animated visual translation from natural language to sign language

Computer animation and visualization can facilitate communication between the hearing impaired and those with normal speaking capabilities. This paper presents a model of a system that is capable of translating text from a natural language into animated sign language. Techniques have been developed to analyse language and transform it into sign language in a systematic way. A hand motion coding method as applied to the hand motion representation, and control has also been investigated. Two translation examples are also given to demonstrate the practicality of the system.     

基于规范的可共享智能型Web课件的制作

提出了一种基于IMS与SCORM远程教育技术规范的可共享智能型Web课件的制作方法。该方法首先将课程的教学内容进行分类,设计出各种类型的学习单元与测试单元;然后依照IMS的内容包装规范、简单顺序规范与SCORM的运行时环境,在一个XML的内容包装清单文件中,以一种可互操作的方式,描述课件内容的组织结构与智能化教学策略。     

Hebrew Computational Linguistics: Past and Future

This paper reviews the current state of the art in Natural LanguageProcessing for Hebrew, both theoretical and practical. The Hebrewlanguage, like other Semitic languages, poses special challenges fordevelopers of programs for natural language processing: the writingsystem, rich morphology, unique word formation process of roots andpatterns, lack of linguistic corpora that document language usage, allcontribute to making computational approaches to Hebrew challenging. The paper briefly reviews the field of computational linguistics andthe problems it addresses, describes the special difficulties inherentto Hebrew (as well as to other Semitic languages), surveys a widevariety of past and ongoing works and attempts to characterize futureneeds and possible solutions.     

可逆编程语言R-JAVA及其语言处理系统的设计

为了给基于可逆逻辑综合、可逆电路技术的可逆硬件平台设计可逆软件系统,提出基于JDK的可逆编程语言RJAVA.首先总结可逆编程语言的设计原则,然后为可逆语言R-JAVA设计文法规则和语言处理系统,其语言处理系统提取源程序中的可逆代码段并将其翻译成分别对应正反语义的等价JAVA代码,再将翻译后的JAVA代码交由JDK解释执行.最后通过示例程序表明R-JAVA源程序中的可逆函数既可正向运行,又可反向运行,从软件层次上实现了可逆计算.