OpenCourseWare (OCW) has received increasing attention over the past few years in higher education. These courses provide appealing opportunities to view classes taught in well-established universities worldwide. The current study aims to examine how OCW lectures can serve as authentic learning materials to facilitate vocabulary acquisition for…

Explores the decision-making process that went into producing the Blossom computer-assisted instruction (CAI) materials for French instruction at Pennsylvania State University. Some of the attributes, limitations, and questions concerning the user, validity, and usefulness of CAI materials are also discussed. (Author/SED)

A study (n=181 college students) examined effects of lexical ambiguity in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) on beginning second-language learners, focusing on whether personality type affects retention of second-language vocabulary independent of translation issues and in an ambiguous CALL context. Findings support the need for beginning…

Evaluation of French second-language learning among college and adult students with videodisk "Vi-Conte" found: beginners adopted less linear paths than adults or more advanced students; lexical acquisition varied by proficiency level; frequency, salience, mode of presentation of lexical items in a multimedia environment affected acquisition;…

Computer software was developed by a faculty member for college-level introductory commercial French to facilitate mastery of basic vocabulary and vocabulary manipulation techniques. The materials targeted three common areas of student difficulty: large amounts of new vocabulary, unfamiliar business concepts, and the formal style of business…

A study with 181 beginning-level college students of French investigated the effects of sentence-level native-language (L1) translations on retention of second-language (L2) vocabulary presented in a context designed to promote inference rather than word-to-word translation. Research was conducted to address the specific design of software for…

Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) has been studied in Japan since about 1963. However, materials for computer-assisted English second language instruction at the college level are not highly developed. A 1985 experiment in CAI at one Japanese university used materials developed by faculty, staff, and students. Instruction using CAI at Doshisha…