This book highlights the potential and the challenges of corpora in language education with a particular focus on the teacher's perspective. For this purpose, the study explores the relevance of the corpus approach to central paradigms underlying contemporary language education. Furthermore, a critical analysis investigates the persisting gap…

In the context of a project developing software for pronunciation practice and feedback for Mandarin-speaking learners of English, a key issue is how to decide which features of pronunciation to focus on in giving feedback. We used naive and experienced native speaker ratings of comprehensibility and nativeness to establish the key features…

In this study, a Surface Computer Supported Cooperative Work paradigm is proposed. Recently, multitouch technology has become widely available for human-computer interaction. We found it has great potential to facilitate more awareness of human-to-human interaction than personal computers (PCs) in colocated collaborative work. However, other…

This paper reports activities (as part of a university course in language teacher education on teaching reading) in which primary school student teachers (all ESL in-service teacher trainees) explored their own skills of determining textbook readability using an online software tool and a cloze test completed by two hundred and seventy-eight Grade…

This volume includes two sections of the 2018 NORDSCI international conference proceedings: (1) Education and Educational Research; and (2) Language and Linguistics. Education and Educational Research includes 22 papers relating to scientific topics in the full spectrum of education, including history, sociology and economy of education,…

Writing assistance systems, from simple spelling checkers to more complex grammar and readability analyzers, can be helpful aids to nonnative writers of English. However, many writing assistance systems have two disadvantages. First, they are not designed to encourage skills learning and independence in their users; instead, users may begin to use…

Despite the fact that there is a growing body of research on the characteristics and use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in Europe, there are relatively few studies aimed at investigating the ways in which language learners voice their opinions about ELF and how they see ELF impacting their own learning. Therefore, the aim of the present study…

The primary focus of this study was to determine the effect of portfolio assessment on final examination scores of EFL students' writing skill. To determine the impact of portfolio-based writing assessment 40 university students who enrolled in composition course were initially selected and divided randomly into two experimental and control…

In the last decade, "digital divide" has become a catchphrase for the stubborn disparity in IT resources between communities, especially in regard to education. Low-income, rural and minority populations have received special scrutiny as the technological "have-nots." This article presents success stories of educators who can work around obstacles…

As India aspires to become the information and communication technology (ICT) leader in the world, the education of its children is a primary concern. While India's policymakers expect ICT to usher in promising education changes, there is a limited understanding of how computers are used and negotiated in India's schools. This dissertation is an…

"The EUROCALL Review" is published online biannually by the European Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning (EUROCALL). This issue offers regular sections on: (1) up-to-date information on Special Interest Groups; (2) reports on on-going CALL or CALL-related R&D projects in which EUROCALL members participate; (3) reports…

Participatory design (PD), or the collaboration between software engineers and end users throughout the design process, may help improve CALL design practices. In this case study, four ESL learners, a software designer, and a language teacher created and evaluated a series of paper prototypes concerning help options in computer-based second…

This study examines one of the design principles of multimedia learning in a context dissimilar to the one in which it was originally tested. Personalization principle states that the amount of learning increases when the style of language is informal and conversational. In an attempt to uncover the relationship between learning and language…

This paper investigates the linguistic worth of current "chatbot" programs--software programs which attempt to hold a conversation, or interact, in English--as a precursor to their potential as an ESL (English as a second language) learning resource. After some initial background to the development of chatbots, and a discussion of the Loebner…

The purpose of this study is to offer a critical consideration of instructional software designed particularly for children. Since the early 1990s computer applications integrating education with entertainment have been adopted on a large scale by both educators and parents. It is expected that through edutainment software the process of learning…