Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning

Abstract

Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning (ICALL) is a field within Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) that applies concepts, techniques, algorithms, and technologies from artificial intelligence to CALL

Appendices

The Research Questions

• 1. What is Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning?

• 2. What are the computational challenges that ICALL faces?

• 3. What kind of pedagogical tasks/exercise types should an ILTS provide?

• 4. How can an ILTS or AWE system be most effectively used by L2 learners?

• 5. What kind of feedback should an ICALL system provide?

• 6. What are the factors that determine the type of feedback of an ICALL system?

• 7. What is the best timing of feedback in an ICALL system?

• 8. How can the tasks and exercise types in an ICALL system be used to assess learners’ progress?

• 9. What are the learner variables and strategies that should be part of a learner profile?

• 10. In what ways can or should a learner profile determine the interaction between a learner and the ICALL system?

Suggested Resources

Heift, T. & Schulze, M. (2007). Errors and intelligence in CALL. Parsers and pedagogues. New York: Routledge.

This book provides the first comprehensive overview of theoretical issues, historical developments and trends in ICALL, a field that has also been referred to as NLP in CALL, or parser-based CALL. It draws on methods developed within computational linguistics with the goal to provide more contextual feedback to the user. The five chapters of the book focus on NLP, spell and grammar checkers, feedback, student models, and future directions of ICALL by surveying the literature and discussing the challenges as well as the benefits of an ICALL system. The book assumes a basic familiarity with SLA theory and teaching, CALL, and linguistics and is geared at upper undergraduate and/or graduate students as well as researchers interested in CALL, SLA, language pedagogy, applied linguistics, computational linguistics or artificial intelligence.

Heift, T. & Schulze, M. (2015). Research Timeline: Tutorial CALL. Language Teaching, 48(4), 1–20.

This article presents a timeline (1968–2013) of survey and review articles that summarize the state of the art at that time and focus on research questions, processes and challenges pertinent to Tutorial CALL. It also describes articles that deal with language pedagogy by focusing on general aspects of second language development and language teaching methodology. Two important specific aspects are considered: (1) Corrective Feedback which subsumes form-focused feedback on individual items of practice activities, written texts and dialogues, and generally the recognition and processing of learner errors; and (2) Language Awareness which encompasses scaffolding resources for students’ perceptive activities and guidance that focuses their attention, facilitates noticing, and generally helps learners to sequence the necessary steps in a complex problem-solving process. The timeline also considers ICALL and Tutorial CALL research and development projects. The article is a useful resource for an overview of the research that was conducted during those years.

Shermis, M. & Burstein, J. (2013). Handbook of Automated Essay Evaluation: Current Applications and New Directions. New York: Routledge.

This comprehensive, interdisciplinary handbook reviews methods and technologies used in automated essay evaluation (AEE), also referred to as automated writing evaluation (AWE). Highlights include the latest in the evaluation of performance-based writing assessments and recent advances in the teaching of writing, language testing, cognitive psychology, and computational linguistics. It is aimed at educators, researchers and administrators responsible for developing writing programs or distance learning curricula or those who teach using AWE technologies. The book also serves as a reference for graduate courses on automated essay evaluation taught in education, computer science, language, linguistics, and cognitive psychology.

Hegelheimer, V., Dursun, A. & Li, Z. (Eds) (2016). Automated writing evaluation in language teaching: Theory, development and application. CALICO Special Issue, 33.1.

This special issue includes conceptual and empirical research on AWE tool development, AWE tool classroom implementation, and resulting pedagogical implications. It is an informative resource for AWE designers and developers, applied-linguistics researchers, and language teachers and practitioners alike. With an emphasis on AWE development for classroom use and its implementation, the issue is a good complement to existing books on AWE. In total, six research articles that include a theoretical discussion and/or empirical research on the promise, challenges, and issues related to the development, implementation, or evaluation of AWE tools are presented. (see also the Special Issue in Language Testing on ‘Automated Scoring and Feedback Systems for Language Assessment and Learning,’ 27(3), July 2010)).

Dickinson, M., Brew C. & Meurers, D. (2012). Language and Computers. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.

In this book, the authors provide an introduction to the fundamentals of how computers are used to represent, process, and organize textual and spoken information by introducing them to key concepts from computational linguistics. Concepts are grounded in real-world examples with which students can identify, using these to explore the technology and how it works. The authors cover a broad spectrum of language-related applications and issues, including major computer applications involving natural language and the social and ethical implications of these new developments. The book is written specifically for the undergraduate audience but offers additional sections that give greater detail on selected advanced topics, rendering the book appropriate for more advanced courses, or for independent study.