This article describes a classroom technique for improving the writing skills of EFL university students who have chosen English as their major for pursuing future careers as translators from and into English. The technique in question, designed for a creative writing course aimed at such students, was based on: (a) the combination of process and…

In this paper, the authors report the results of a study that compared differences in the linguistic gains made by native English-speaking students from the United States who were studying Spanish in one of two different contexts of learning. One was a regular university classroom situation in Colorado; the other was a study abroad program in…

Today's high-end cell phones have the computing power of a mid-1990s personal computer (PC)--while consuming only one one-hundredth of the energy. Even the simplest, voice-only phones have more complex and powerful chips than the 1969 on-board computer that landed a spaceship on the moon. In the United States, it is almost universally acknowledged…

The symbolic location of EUROCALL's 2004 conference in Vienna offered to both new members from Eastern Europe and established members from the West an opportunity to review the relationship between computer assisted language learning (CALL) and language teaching in general. CALL is defined as an "academic field that explores the role of…

In this paper we present the Report Manager of our Web-based tutoring system for German--an interface to a persistent learner report that students can inspect and manipulate. The learner report collects and retains information on the learner's progress and performance that is saved between visits. It also provides access to a journaling system…

The current study examined the provision of corrective feedback and learner repair following feedback in the interactional context of child-to-child conversations, particularly computer mediated, in an elementary Spanish immersion class. The relationship among error types, feedback types, and immediate learner repair were also examined. A total of…

English as a second language (ESL) is taught in Australia to adult learners of mixed language backgrounds through the medium of English, and there is currently no requirement that ESL teachers speak another language. This paper reports on a study which asked what advantages there may be for ESL teachers to have proficiency in two or more…

This exploratory study examines corrective feedback in native speaker-nonnative speaker (NS-NNS) and NNS-NNS dyads while participants were engaged in communicative and problem-solving activities via "Yahoo! Instant Messenger" (YIM). As "negotiation of meaning" studies of the 1990s have shown, linguistic items which learners negotiate in…

This article proposes a model for a critical social-constructivist (CS-C) approach to the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in language/culture education. CS-C theories emphasize a critical approach to social interactions, interpersonal relations, communication, and the influence that these activities have on learning. I will use the…

We have developed an English pronunciation learning system which estimates the intelligibility of Japanese learners' speech and ranks their errors from the viewpoint of improving their intelligibility to native speakers. Error diagnosis is particularly important in self-study since students tend to spend time on aspects of pronunciation that do…

This paper presents the overall considerations and pedagogical approach which were at the basis of the development of an innovative web-based CALL application, Ellips (Electronic Language Learning Interactive Practising System). It describes the program's most salient features, illustrating in particular the technical challenges involved in the…

Non-native speakers of English seeking to undertake university study frequently take English for Academic Purposes courses in order to prepare to meet the language requirements for such study. Of necessity, such courses usually include a strong focus on the development of the writing skill. This paper proposes two conceptual elements as necessary…

The article concentrates on setting some specific criteria for the EIL ("English as an international language") classroom and raising teachers' awareness of what is needed in order to identify and teach EIL classrooms. It starts by distinguishing between those communicative and teaching situations that are norm-bound and those that prioritise…

For many ESL teachers, finding time for research within the everyday activities of classroom teaching can be problematic. This is often the case with large classes and classes that have few contact hours, where it is difficult to include research activities, particularly those that centre upon gathering relevant information about individual…

This study analyses specific written discourse production in which NNSs' usage of English tenses and voice appears to be dramatically different from that of NSs. The data for the study narrowly focuses on a small number of verb phrase features, such as tenses, aspects and the passive voice, examining how they are presented in writing instruction…