Chapter Ten Language and the Computer

1. Chapter TenLanguage and the Computer

2. 1. CAI, CAL & CALL • CAI:computer-assisted instruction • CAL:computer-assisted learning • CALL:computer-assisted language learning • Three phases of CALL: • Behavioristic CALL • Communicative CALL • Integrative CALL

3. 1.1 Behavioristic CALL • Conceived in the 1950s and implemented in the 1960s and ’70s. • Based on the then dominant behaviorist theories of learning--repetitive language drills (drill and practice). • The courseware is based on the model of computer as tutor, a vehicle for delivering instructional materials to the student.

4. The rationale • Repeated exposure to the same material is beneficial or even essential to learning. • A computer is ideal for carrying out repeated drills, since the machine does not get bored with presenting the same material and since it can provide immediate non-judgmental feedback. • A computer can present such material on an individualized basis, allowing students to proceed at their own pace and freeing up class time for other activities.

5. Based on these notions, a number of CALL tutoring systems were developed for the mainframe computers which were used at that time. One of the most sophisticated of these was the PLATO system, which ran on its own special PLATO hardware, including central computers and terminals. The PLATO system included vocabulary drills, brief grammar explanations and drills, and translations tests at various intervals.

6. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, behavioristic CALL was undermined by two important factors. First, behavioristic approaches to language learning had been rejected at both the theoretical and the pedagogical level. Secondly, the introduction of the microcomputer allowed a whole new range of possibilities. The stage was set for a new phase of CALL.

7. 1.2 Communicative CALL • Based on the communicative approach to LT which became prominent in the 1970s and 80s. • Proponents of this approach felt that the drill and practice programs of the previous decade did not allow enough authentic communication to be of much value.

8. Premises for Communicative CALL • focuses more on using forms rather than on the forms themselves; • teaches grammar implicitly rather than explicitly; • allows and encourages students to generate original utterances rather than just manipulate prefabricated language; • does not judge and evaluate everything the students nor reward them with congratulatory messages, lights, or bells;

9. avoids telling students they are wrong and is flexible to a variety of student responses; • uses the target language exclusively and creates an environment in which using the target language feels natural, both on and off the screen; and • will never try to do anything that a book can do just as well.

10. Communicative CALL: Model 1 • Computer as “knower-of-the-right-answer”, an extension of the computer as tutor model. But the process of finding the right answer involves a fair amount of student choice, control, and interaction. • Programs to provide skill practice, but in a non-drill format. • Courseware for paced reading, text reconstruction, and language games.

11. Communicative CALL: Model 2 • Computer as stimulus. • Purpose is not so much to have students discover the right answer, but rather to stimulate students’ discussion, writing, or critical thinking. • Software used for these purposes include a wide variety of programs which may not have been specifically designed for language learners.

12. Communicative CALL: Model 3 • Computer as tool or, as workhorse. • The programs do not necessarily provide any language material at all, but rather empower the learner to use or understand language. • Examples include word processors, spelling and grammar checkers, desk-top publishing programs, and concordancers.

13. By the end of the 1980s, many educators felt that CALL was still failing to live up to its potential. Critics pointed out that the computer was being used in an ad hoc and disconnected fashion and thus “finds itself making a greater contribution to marginal rather than to central elements” of the language teaching process.

14. 1.3 Integrative CALL • Multimedia: CD-ROM (text, graphics, sound, animation, and video) hypermedia • The Internet: computer-mediated communication (CMC)

15. Hypermedia: advantages • a more authentic learning environment is created; • skills are easily integrated; • students have great control over their learning; • it facilitates a principle focus on the content, without sacrificing a secondary focus on language form or learning strategies.

16. Hypermedia: disadvantages • Quality of available programs. • Today's computer programs are not yet intelligent enough to be truly interactive. • Multimedia technology as it currently exists thus only partially contributes to integrative CALL.

17. The Internet • Language learners can communicate directly, inexpensively, and conveniently with other learners or speakers of the target language 24 hours a day, from school, work, or home. • This communication can be asynchronous through tools such as electronic mail (e-mail), or it can be synchronous, using programs which allow people all around the world to have a simultaneous conversation by typing at their keyboards. • It also allows not only one-to-one communication, but also one-to-many.

18. CMC allows users to share not only brief messages, but also lengthy documents--thus facilitating collaborative writing--and also graphics, sounds, and video. • Using the World Wide Web (WWW), students can search through millions of files around the world within minutes to locate and access authentic materials exactly tailored to their own personal interests. • They can also use the Web to publish their texts or multimedia materials to share with partner classes or with the general public.

19. 1.4 Conclusion • The history of CALL suggests that the computer can serve a variety of uses for language teaching. It can be • a tutor which offers language drills or skill practice; • a stimulus for discussion and interaction; or • a tool for writing and research. • With the advent of the Internet, it can also be a medium of global communication and a source of limitless authentic materials.

20. As pointed out by Garrett (1991), “the use of the computer does not constitute a method”. Rather, it is a “medium in which a variety of methods, approaches, and pedagogical philosophies may be implemented”. The effectiveness of CALL cannot reside in the medium itself but only in how it is put to use.

21. As with the audio language lab “revolution” of 40 years ago, those who expect to get magnificent results simply from the purchase of expensive and elaborate systems will likely be disappointed. But those who put computer technology to use in the service of good pedagogy will undoubtedly find ways to enrich their educational program and the learning opportunities of their students.

22. 2. Machine Translation (MT) • a form of translation where a computer program analyses the text in one language — the “source text”— and then attempts to produce another, equivalent text in another language — the target text — without human intervention.

23. Currently the state of machine translation is such that it involves some human intervention, as it requires a pre-editing and a post-editing phase. Note that in machine translation, the translator supports the machine and not the other way around.

24. Nowadays most machine translation systems produce what is called a “gisting translation”— a rough translation that gives the “gist” of the source text, but is not otherwise usable. • However, in fields with highly limited ranges of vocabulary and simple sentence structure, for example weather reports, machine translation can deliver useful results.

25. 2.1 Development of MT • 1950s: independent work by MT researchers, dictionary-based, word-for-word translation, low-quality results • 1960s: hope for good quality, due to (i) computer development and (ii) syntactic analysis

26. Since 1970s: computer-based tools for translators, operational MT systems involving human assistance, and ‘pure’ theoretical research towards the improvement of MT methods. • The recent ‘memory’ facility: the storage of and access to existing translations for later reuse or revision or as sources of example translations.

27. All current commercial and operational systems produce output which must be edited or revised if it is to be of published quality. • MT works best in domain-specific and controlled environments.

28. 2.2 MT research methods • Linguistic approaches: • categorial grammar • transformational-generative grammar (TG) • dependency grammar • stratificational grammar • lexical-functional grammar (LFG) • generalized phrase structure grammar (GPSG) • head-driven phrase structure grammar (HPSG) • Montague semantics, etc.

29. Non-linguistic theories used: • information theory • neural networks • connectionism • parallel processing • statistical methods • etc.

30. Practical approaches: • the transfer approach • the interlingual approach • the knowledge-based approach

31. 2.3 Areas of MT • MT quality • MT and the internet • Spoken language translation • MT and human translation

32. 3. Corpus Linguistics • Corpus (plural corpora): a collection of linguistic data, either compiled as written texts or as a transcription of recorded speech. The main purpose of a corpus is to verify a hypothesis about language--for example, to determine how the usage of a particular sound, word, or syntactic construction varies.

33. 3.1 Corpus Linguistics • Corpus linguistics deals with the principles and practice of using corpora in language study. • A computer corpus is a large body of machine-readable texts.

34. 3.2 Concordancepoor in Tale of Two Cities, Book 1

36. 3.4 Dictionary making: Collins COBUILD

37. 3.5 The roles of corpus data • Speech research • Lexical studies • Semantics • Sociolinguistics • Psycholinguistics

38. 4. Information retrieval • Three main areas of research: • content analysis • information structure • evaluation

39. 5. Language and the Internet A linguist can’t help but be impressed by the Internet. It is an extraordinarily diverse medium, holding a mirror up to many sides of our linguistic nature. The World Wide Web, in particular, offers a home to virtually all the styles which have so far developed in the written language – newspapers, scientific reports, bulletins, novels, poems, prayers – you name it, you’ll find a page on it. Indeed, it is introducing us to styles of written expression which none of us have ever seen before. It has often been said, the Internet is a revolution – yes, indeed, but it is also a linguistic revolution. David Crystal (2001): Language and the Internet

40. 5.1 Internet terminology (Netspeak) • bounce What your e-mail does when it cannot get to its recipient--it bounces back to you (unless it goes off into the ether, never to be found again). • BTW Used in an e-mail message to stand for "by the way." • cobweb page A Web page that hasn't been updated in a long time.

41. compunications Any form of computer-based communication, including e-mail, fax, and voice mail. • cybercafe Establishment with both coffee and internet access. Trendy in some places, unknown in others.

42. Cyberstyle The writing style used in most on-line communications. This style is characterized by one or more of the following traits: frequent use of abbreviations, acronyms, and jargon; "street" slang (e.g., using "cuz" instead of "because"); typos, misspelled words, and a general inattention to grammar and sentence structure; a rambling, stream-of-consciousness style.

43. egosurfing Searching databases, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, wire services, research papers and new books for your own name. Egosurfing is the crack cocaine of the cognoscenti, each "hit" producing yelps of pleasure and mounting delirium.

44. F2F Stands for "face to face," and refers to when you actually meet face to face people you have been corresponding with through e-mail or other parts of the Internet • IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) A shorthand appended to a comment written in an on-line forum, IMHO indicates that the writer is aware that they are expressing a debatable view, probably on a subject already under discussion. One of many such shorthands in common use on-line, especially in discussion forums.

45. mouse potato The on-line generation's answer to the couch potato. A computer addict, pale of complexion and intense of mien, a species replicating ever faster in the techno-loam of modern society. A mouse potato clings to a computer as persistently as a couch potato roots before a television set. Only one means is known for freeing a mouse from a mouse potato's hand--replacing it with a trackball.

46. Netiquette A pun on ‘etiquette’ referring to proper behavior on a network. • nomepage A homepage with little or no content -- perhaps an image of the person's pet and a few links to their favorite tv show, but nothing original and not much of anything else. • read-only user A person who uses the Internet exclusively for reading Web pages, e-mail, and newsgroups instead of creating their own content.

47. ROM brain A person who refuses to accept input and ideas from other people. • smileys Collections of character meant to totally replace body language, intonation and complete physical presence. for example happy faces ;-) , or smiley faces :-) and sad faces :-( when viewed from sideways.

48. 5.2 Abbreviations commonly used in online communication • afk away from keyboard • bbl be back later • bbiab be back in a bit • brb be right back • btw by the way • cya see ya • gmta great minds think alike

49. j/k just kidding • irl in real life • lol laughing out loud • nick internet nickname • rotfl rolling on the floor laughing • ttfn ta ta for now • ttyl talk to you later • wb welcome back

50. 5.3 Emoticons/smileys • :-) ha ha • |-) hee hee • |-D ho ho • :-> hey hey • :-( boo boo • :-| hmmm • :-O oops