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C&IT Centre

No 7, Feb 96

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New Premises for CTI Modern Languages

As part of the extension of the Language Institute at the University of Hull into the newly-built Ferens Building, CTI Modern Languages has recently moved into three new offices which are located on the bridge between the Ferens Building and the Larkin Building where we were housed previously. At the moment our accommodation can best be described as 'compact', but we are promised additional space once the conversion of the Larkin Building is complete.

The good news for all of us is that the new building includes excellent new computer laboratories and a spacious self-access area, as well as an impressive interpreting suite.

Educational Technology in Language Learning 6

Machine Assisted Translation in Language Learning

6 -7 December 1995, Coventry

This 'expert seminar' was organised by the CTI Centre for Modern Languages, University of Hull in association with the Centre for Information Technology in Language Learning, Coventry University. It was the sixth in a series of such events for invited participants introduced by the CTI Centre for Modern Languages in 1990.

The seminar programme included speakers involved in professional translation and speakers involved in teaching and research in higher education, and provided a forum for discussion between the two.

Marco Bruzzoni of MultiLingua gave a presentation entitled What the Professionals are Using in which he outlined the types of software available and gave examples. He distinguished between Machine Translation Systems such as PC Translator and Globalink Power Translator, which are still the option often chosen by businessmen despite advice to the contrary, and Machine Assisted Translation Tools. These include translation aids to support the professional translator, such as electronic dictionaries, reference materials, and glossary managers such as Multiterm. Marco described the approach taken by translation memory software, in which previous, human, translations are stored and reaccessed by the software on subsequent occasions using fuzzy matching. Trados Translator's Workbench II was demonstrated as an example of a 'toolkit' for the modern translator, incorporating a translation memory feature. Factors to be considered in the evaluation of such systems were set out in a printed case study provided by Adriane Rinsche of the Language Technology Centre Ltd.

Two other presentations looked in more detail at certain types of software described above. Peter Kwan of Praetorius described and demonstrated IBM Translation Manager, which is a set of tools which include an online dictionary and translation memory facility. The user is presented with online proposals of exact and near-exact translations from a translation memory, and the system allows creation of an initial translation memory from previous, human translations. Repetitive technical translations are particularly suitable for this approach, which is designed to increase the throughput of a professional translator. IBM originally developed Translation Manager for 'in-house' use, to effect a saving of 20% on the cost of translators.

Graham Davies of Thames Valley University described one of the simplest and cheapest machine translation packages available, Language Assistant, and demonstrated the German version. It is a rule-based system which has the capacity to ask for further information from the user. Its shortcomings were illustrated, and then ways in which it could be useful in a teaching situation were discussed. It could serve as an introduction to students as to what is on the market, giving them confidence that professional translators will still be needed and enabling them to give advice on the use of such systems. In practical terms it could be used for composition, being an interactive word processor with dictionary look-up facility including inflection for verbs and grammar notes.

Tony Hartley, University of Brighton, provided a general view of the functionality of MT systems and the use of such tools for language learning in a presentation entitled Can Machine Assisted Translation Assist Language Learning? He concluded by emphasising that MT systems are not designed as tutors for language learning, nor as partners or a medium for language learning, but that plausible roles such systems might play in language learning include:

• Informant: students can inspect the lexicon in a dynamic
• environment;
• Stimulant: shortcomings can provoke discussion;
• Tool: good for exploring models of translation and real world
• translation.

Feasible activities suggested included sub-language analyses, comparative evaluation of MT systems, and designing evaluations.

During later discussions Tony outlined a forthcoming project in which students were to translate software documentation provided by Computer Science students at a linked institution in France, and these translations were to be validated by English Computer Science students at Brighton.

The remaining presentations dealt with the use of tools for teaching translation and focused on the TransIt-TIGER programs produced by the TELL Consortium with HE funding under the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme. Patrick Corness, Coventry University, gave an account of the development of a parent program, TIGER (Translating Industrial German) and described the functionality of the program, which provided a series of source texts with associated glossaries, translation hints and model translations. He then outlined the methodology behind TransIt, as developed by Doug and June Thompson at the University of Hull, using word processing for teaching translation. This involved providing source texts electronically together with questions on the text and eventual access to two alternative, rather than model, translations, in the light of which students could improve upon their original translation. The TLTP funding had enabled developers to merge this methodology with the existing TIGER program and produce a series of programs for various language pairs, and an authoring shell.

Doug Thompson, University of Hull, followed with an account of his dissatisfaction with traditional classroom methods of teaching translation and the requirements any replacement methodology should meet. These included individual tuition, students working at their own pace, access to grammatical, syntactical and lexical guidance, source and target language acquisition, and acquisition of basic translation skills. The TransIt methodology involves two sessions on each source text, the first in which the student does an unseen translation and in which problems with the source language are faced, and a second session, essentially post-editing with access to two alternative translations, in which problems with the target language are dealt with. Students become responsible for their own time management, and the teacher can see mistakes in the making and is available as a learning resource. Although developed in a teaching situation the TransIt-TIGER programs can be used for self-access, and have been used by pairs of students to generate discussion, and in examinations.

George Talbot, University of Hull, in a presentation entitled Looking up in Anger - Translation Practice in the CALL Lab, contrasted traditional translation practice with translation in the real world, where translators are working against the clock, translate technical, legal and commercial documents requiring specialised terminology and need to be able to use computers and information retrieval skills. He went on to describe the practicalities of using the TransIt-TIGER programs with students and suggested that they gained confidence from the use of the technology, gained an insight into the translation industry and were more willing to discuss complexities in the translation process. In addition they benefited from having no homework and the tutor could reduce marking time.

Several enlightening discussions were generated during the conference. Real world problems faced by translators were highlighted, including the lack of translators for some language pairs so that translation was not always done into the native language of the translator. Problems of not knowing the language in a specialised field but also not knowing the concepts behind it were mentioned. The need for the translator to demand information from the client where necessary was regarded as important but often neglected, and drawings could be of help where conceptual difficulties were involved.

Participants from the translation profession felt the approach to teaching translation represented by the contributors from the field of education was a valid one, and regretted that not all educational institutions took this approach. Students must be prepared to accept changes in what was a particularly fast moving field.

Jenny Parsons, University of Hull

UCSG Summer Workshop on Conference Systems

Lancaster University, 6-7 July 1995

The Universities and Colleges Software Group Summer Workshop on Conference Systems held at Lancaster University 6-7 July 1995 was intended for university staff with an interest in the implementation and use of conferencing systems to support teaching and learning.

The workshop included a variety of sessions dealing with areas such as synchronous and asynchronous Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), the implementation of both desktop and studio videoconferencing, real life experiences using these technologies in teaching and administration, and a look at the future of HE with respect to the use of computer conferencing.

Throughout the two days there were exhibitors from Apple, Lotus, Fujitsu ICL, INTEL and The Database, and Lotus (Lotus Notes).

Dr Rosalie Wells, (Independent Consultant, formerly of Athabasca University, Canada) gave the opening keynote address, Computer-Mediated Communication in Higher Education: Revolutionary Potential and Practical Realities. The benefits and challenges of the use of CMC to support learning from the point of view of both staff and students were discussed for both face-to-face and distance learning. Examples of the use of CMC in education, business, and government were provided; choice of software and course design issues were also dealt with.

Paul Bacsich of the Open University dealt with implementation and support issues both generally and in connection with the JANUS project using the First Class conferencing system.

Other plenary sessions included those given by Prof. Ted Smith of the University of Central Lancashire, and Dr. Tom Rodden of Lancaster University. Ted Smith's A Vision of 2020 conjured up an image of a future where large numbers of students will not attend university in the conventional sense but will learn from home through their interaction with technology, being able to access courses from all over the world. A picture was painted of a new style of Computing Services where staff will need to have expertise in overlapping areas as demand increases.

The final address was given by Dr Tom Rodden providing a highly visual presentation on the use of Virtual Reality and telecommunications to support group work.

Over the course of the two days a total of 6 parallel sessions took place. I attended Clive Holtham's (City University Business School) paper on the use of asynchronous and synchronous conferencing using Lotus Notes, Tim Hewson's (Loughborough University) guide to the successful use of videoconferencing in higher education, Dr Denis Russell's (Newcastle University) account of experiences using Studio and Desk-Top Video-Conferencing with reference to the MBONE, the SuperJANET video network, and the CU-SeeMe system.

Mark Bryson and Christine Steeples of Lancaster University gave a paper on the current findings of the BT funded CMC in HE Project. Two projects were discussed: The Advanced Learning Technology Programme and the latest IHE (Innovations in Higher Education) which aims to provide other universities with information regarding standards of good practice in the use of CMC to support flexible learning.

Dr. John Martin's (University of Wales) paper dealt with patterns of use, user attitudes, and factors affecting acceptability of the use of studio-based video conferencing via Welshnet, the video teaching network linking Bangor, Aberystwyth, Lampeter, Swansea, and Cardiff. An insight into the SuperJANET Video Network was provided by Jeremy Sharp of UKERNA.

Anybody interested in further details about other parallel sessions, and more explicit details regarding the aforementioned papers and product exhibitions should consult the URL http://cent1.lancs.ac.uk/ucsg/

Abstracts of papers presented are provided, along with additional reports, slides, and useful addresses.

Dawn Ebbrell, University of Hull

Multiple Media for Language Learning

University of Stirling

25-27 January 1996

The title of this conference, organised by Scottish CILT, was deliberately provocative and designed to focus attention on the various definitions and implications of the use of new technologies in language learning: 'multimedia'; may be fashionable, but does it work? The conference attracted around 90 participants, many from schools and colleges in Scotland and elsewhere, but including also colleagues from the higher education sector and commercial and other institutions.

Presenters were asked to address three themes: access to the target language, use of the target language, and the acquisition of knowledge of the structures and vocabulary of the target language. There was a mixture of plenary and parallel sessions, including both talks and workshops. The following comments represent one participant's reaction to a small selection of these.

Nina Garrett, Director, CTW Mellon Project, Wesleyan University, Connecticut

Technology as bridge between teaching language and research on language acquisition

Professor Garrett put forward the proposition that, whilst we may think students'; linguistic performance is enhanced by the use of computer-based materials, we really have no idea of 'what is going on inside their heads'. The capabilities of computers really ought to be harnessed so that (with their permission) students' activity whilst using such materials can be tracked, and the data from such tracking can be analysed to draw out conclusions about how language learning takes place.

Charles Jennings, Director of CECOMM, Southampton Institute

Telematics and language learning: the new frontier

Professor Jennings described a prototype 'classroom without walls', addressing the potential impact on the process of language learning, based on his involvement in major telematics-based projects. Whilst the use of these existing technologies is currently prohibitively expensive, a glimpse of possible future trends was offered, and it was encouraging to learn that 'real people'; were regarded as an integral part of such electronic environments.

Stephen Hagen, Centre for Modern Languages, The Open University

Multimedia: can it really satisfy the needs of open language learners?

This presentation offered a down-to-earth perspective on the experiences, perceptions and expectations of new technologies, based on research carried out by the OU into precisely which media learners felt were useful to them. The theme of access to the foreign language was echoed in the set of statistics presented, which showed the proportions of students having access to computers, video recorders, and audio-cassette players. It was pointed out that in some homes, even where a computer is in place, parents may have to compete with their children for access to it - and busy commuters may still prefer to use their travelling time to practise listening skills on a car cassette-player.

Mike Harland, Glasgow University

Putting fun into course books with interactive courseware

Plenty of examples of the 'fun element' in multimedia courseware were provided in the presentation: the recorded groans in the Portuguese 'accident scenario', as the victim was hoisted into the ambulance were truly multilingual! Students are required to carry out 'tasks' relating to the scenarios by responding to situations and making choices. This involves elements of increased motivation as well as being more fun than some of the more 'traditional'; computer-based activities. The more serious language learning focus, and the emphasis on 'multiple media' was demonstrated by the fact that the accompanying book contained a page-for-page text version of the scenario, with accompanying vocabulary and grammar notes.

Sue Hewer, Scottish CILT/LTDI Heriot-Watt for HarperCollins

Reading strategies and graded texts on CD-ROM

This talk and demonstration allowed participants an insight into the thinking behind the development of Autolire, Lectura and Lesen - packages which exploit CD-ROM technology to help students to develop successful reading strategies and the desire to read for pleasure. As an 'open-ended' system, which encourages initiative on the part of students rather than providing answers, this requires a fresh approach on the part of teachers who may be familiar with other computer-based materials that provide text-based activities.

The conference also included an exhibition area and a session for software demonstrations. As the occasion was billed as the Scottish launch of materials from the TELL consortium (see page 7), it was gratifying to see considerable interest in the TELL products at these two events. Unfortunately the weather intervened on the Saturday morning with blizzard conditions, so that most of the workshops, including ours, had to be abandoned as everyone made a dash to get away from Stirling whilst the roads were still open! However, the Burns Night supper and entertainment the previous evening had duly fortified us all, and the conference will certainly go down as a memorable event!

June Thompson, University of Hull

Distribution of Materials from the TELL Consortium

The materials developed under the TLTP-funded TELL Consortium are now nearing completion and are currently being delivered to Hodder &; Stoughton, publishers, who will be printing, packaging and distributing the products. The first batch should be available around Easter. If you have not already received details of this range of materials in French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, aimed at a variety of learner types, please contact CTI Modern Languages office for a brochure.

During January, an Order Form for the TELL materials was sent to each of our contacts in UK higher education institutions, together with a letter giving details of arrangements for receiving these materials within the UK higher education sector. If you are not sure who in your institution is likely to have received this, please contact Kylie Baxter at CTI Modern Languages ([email protected]).

Information about events organised to support users of TELL materials will be published regularly in this Newsletter.

The commercial launch of the TELL products took place at the BETT show in January, where Jenny Parsons, Jo Porritt and Kylie Baxter demonstrated the software on the Hodder & Stoughton stand. Demonstrations will also take place at the Association for Language Learning conference in Exeter at the end of March, and for colleagues who wish to try out materials in London, selected items will be installed at the CILT offices in Covent Garden in the near future.

Copies of the TELL publications listed below are now out of print, but arrangements can be made to send them electronically on request.

• Program Design Principles (Diana Laurillard, December 1993)
• Style Guidelines for Developers (Graham Davies, Paul Hickman and Sue Hewer, April 1994)
• Evaluation Planning (Diana Laurillard, December 1993)
• Evaluation Procedures (Diana Laurillard, May 1994)

TLTP Catalogue Online

Full details of products from all TLTP Phase 1 projects are now available on the World Wide Web at the URL http://www.niss.ac.uk/tltp

TLTP project CKS33

Multimedia dossiers in French and German for Scientists and Engineers

CKS1 is now available. CKS1 French and CKS1 German consist of 3 dossiers, each available at 3 different levels (A: post-beginners, B: intermediate, and C: Advanced) as follows:

French: L'environnement

• l'Air (niveau A, B, C)
• l'Eau (niveau A, B, C)
• les D�chets (niveau A, B, C)

German: Umwelt

• Luft (Stufe A, B, C)
• Klima (Stufe A, B, C)
• M�ll (Stufe A, B, C)

Each pack consists of 9 printed booklets, videotapes, audio tape, CALL disks. The written material is distributed on CD-ROM.

Cost of the full package (French and German) �120 inc p&p. For more information please contact:

Anita Ogier
The Language Centre
University of Cambridge
11 West Road
Cambridge CB3 9DP
e-mail: [email protected]

Recent Software Donations to CTI Modern Languages

• Business Talk Spanish (Libra Multimedia)
• Business Talk French (Libra Multimedia)
• Compact English (Boston Spa Training)
• Compact Greek (Boston Spa Training)
• The Electronic Oxford Wordpower Dictionary (OUP )
• English for Business 2 (University of Wolverhampton)
• La Chasse Galerie (Universit� du Qu�bec)
• The Rosetta Stone (Prestige Software - Demo with
• Dutch/Russian/Spanish)
• Swedish Exercises for use on PCs (Hull Swedish Press)
• Telefoneren 1+2 (Libra Multimedia)
• Travel Talk Italian (Libra Multimedia)

Book:

Computers and English Language Learning, John Higgins, Intellect books

Book/Video/Floppies:

T�l�matique et Didatique des Langues, Projet Lingua VB, 1995

Understanding IT: Developing Multimedia Courseware

Fred Riley, University of Hull

This work is concerned with the development of small-scale multimedia courseware at a single site which is intended for off-site distribution (by small-scale is meant the creation of courseware by one or a few people at a single site, rather than the 'size' of the courseware.) It is primarily written for developers and would-be developers of academic courseware in the UK Higher Education sector, although the concepts within will be applicable to readers working outside this sector.

The first part of the book discusses the pros and cons of multimedia and hypermedia and considers issues relating to courseware content. Then, drawing heavily on software engineering concepts and the author’s experience of courseware development, a model of courseware development, from initial concepts to product delivery, is proposed. The book is an attempt to impart generic guidelines of software development that can be adopted and/or adapted by developers and would-be developers of academic courseware, regardless of hardware platforms or software environments. The emphasis throughout is upon professionalism and the development of quality courseware.

Price: UKHE �8.50, non-UKHE �8.50 plus p&p

Obtainable from:

Mrs Jean Burgan UCoSDA Ingram House 65 Wilkinson Street University of Sheffield Sheffield S10 2GJ Tel: 0114 272 5248, fax: 0114 272 8705 Email: [email protected] This publication is also available for download (Word for Windows 2 format) from the Hull ITTI Web server.

Internet Resources

We maintain an extensive, sorted, list of language resources on the Internet for learners and teachers at the URL http://www.cti.hull.ac.uk/langsite.htm

The Romance Languages Resource Page

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/romance/

This provides a large and varied collection of links to authentic material in French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese for use by the language teacher. Also included on the page are links to University language departments, both in the United States and abroad, and a collection of links to pedagogical resources online. Links were chosen for their potential utility to the language teacher, either as a source of actual authentic language samples, or of information. It is hoped that language students as well will be able to profit from the collection.

This project was funded by the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning and by the University of Chicago with additional technical support from the ARTFL Project.

We hope you will find this a useful resource. Comments, suggestions, and new links, are greatly appreciated and may be directed to Sarah Hurlburt, University of Chicago, [email protected]

Internet Resources for European Studies and German

Georg Wiessale of De Montfort University has compiled a useful list, a printed version of which is available from the CTI Modern Languages office.

Polish and Russian Teaching Packages for the Mac

Mick Scarrott at Aston University informs us about Polish and Russian teaching packages for Mac:

I came across these two things on WWW at HENSA:

gopher://micros.hensa.ac.uk:70/11/micros/mac/finder/n/n065

gopher://micros.hensa.ac.uk:70/11/micros/mac/finder/n/n068

They are downloadable packages for mac to teach Polish (Polish 4 Everyone 1.1) and Russian (Russian For Everyone 1.0J). Maybe they are of interest? I started from http://micros.hensa.ac.uk/ which may be an interesting site for others.

Italia 2000

CALL exercises for the PC, based on the first six Italia2000 programmes to be broadcast on BBC Focus, are freely available from the Italia2000 web page. They are compressed in the form of a zip file. These pages also contain the transmission information and contact addresses. Alternatively, contact:

Adriano Vicentelli
Department of Modern Languages
University of Wales
Aberystwyth
Dyfed SY23 3DY
Email: [email protected]
Fax: 01970-622553

If you obtain the software, please assist the developers by sending your comments and suggestions after you have used it, to the above address.

Quest Multimedia

Quest Multimedia is a new company producing multimedia CD-ROM software for language training, based in the NE of England. Its present titles include three for the teaching of English and one for the teaching of Arabic:

• abc with KC (with Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese support) - 1 CD-ROM.
• At Home with Casey (with Arabic and Greek support) - 1 CD-ROM.
• The Adventures of KC in London (with Arabic, French, German, Italian and Spanish support) - 5 CD-ROMs.
• Alif ba' ta'; & Yaseen (with Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese support) - 1 CD-ROM.

For further information, please telephone or fax +44 1325 361777 or +44 1325 350700

Campus visits by CTI Modern Languages team

So far in 1996, CTI Modern Languages 'roadshow' has visited the universities of Huddersfield and St Andrews, with dates fixed for visits to the University of Bath, Leeds Metropolitan University and Oxford Brookes University. For details of how to arrange for CTI Modern Languages team to present a CALL workshop at your campus, please contact Jo Porritt. No fees are payable, but the host institution normally covers travel and subsistence expenses.

Voice Annotation

Claire Bradin, Language Learning Center, Michigan State University ([email protected]) reports:

Several instructors at the Language Learning Center at Michigan State University, have used the voice annotation feature of Word to create listening comprehension and dictatation exercises for their students. The advantage is ease of use since instructors can be shown how to do this in a few minutes. A small disadvantage is that there isn't any way to edit the sounds (at least none that I have found).

Several other uses are discussed in an article by John Higgins called 'Talking Documents'. It appears in the Vol. 1, No. 2, August 1994 issue of TESL-EJ, an electronic journal. The article can be found on the WWW at the URL http://cc2000.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/tesl-ej/ej02/int.html

CTI Modern Languages Workshops

• 17 April, Oxford Brookes University: "Integrating CALL into the Curriculum"
• 27 April, University of Hull: TELL Consortium workshop: "Tools for Teaching Translation".
• 11 May, University of Hull: CALL workshop, including optional sessions on "Using Toolbook for developing language learning materials", "Dedicated authoring packages for language learning", and "Language Resources on the Internet".

Further details and registration forms available from Jo Porritt or Kylie Baxter.

CMC in HE

Colleagues who are interested in exploring the use of Computer-Mediated Communications would do well to use the Advice Centre run by the CMC in HE project at the University Lancaster. Run by members of Lancaster University's Centre for Studies in Advanced Learning Technology with funding from BT's University Development Awards, the project also publishes a Newsletter: the July 1995 issue provides useful information on Choosing a Conference System. For further information email [email protected].

Software Reviews

Ecoutez Bien

IBM PC or compatible with Windows, a sound card, speakers and a CD-ROM drive
Apple Macintosh with 256 colour display and a CD-ROM drive
Price: �76.00 set of two disks

Supplier: Eurotalk Limited, 315-317 New Kings Road, Fulham, London SW6 4RF

The software consists of two CD-ROMs published by Heinemann. Its area of use is in secondary schools for practice in French listening comprehension and pronunciation. The material is divided into topic areas appropriate for GCSE, or in a few cases, Advanced Level.

Disc 1 - L'heure, Les Prix, La voiture, Les jours de la semaine, A la maison, Les lieux, Le plan de la ville, Chez les Martin, Au restaurant, Dans le parc.

Disc 2 - Les gens, Les carri�res, La bonne image, La bonne r�ponse, Dans la rue, A la plage, Le contrebandier, Les r�ponses polies, Les r�ponses correctes, Les styles de vie.

User-friendliness is the keynote for this software. All navigation and answer choices are carried out by mouse clicks, so the keyboard is not needed. The main menu screen lists the topic choices, as well as a quiz, a voice-recording option and volume control. Another attractive feature is the wide variety of exercise types for the student. These include true/false, matching items, understanding descriptions, completing conversations and an excellent interactive map-reading task. In this, the users hear a series of fairly long directions (deuxi�me � gauche... etc.), and have to click on the screen map where they end up. The language 'authenticity' is excellent throughout. Snatches of conversation are played, rather than individual words, requiring close listening for the key phrases. Oral confirmation is given of the feedback and score, and, where appropriate, plenty of chances are given to produce the correct answer.

The Quiz section shows a series of picture situations in which a conversation or statement is played and the user clicks on multiple-choice answers. There is an option to show the text on screen with correspondingly fewer points awarded for a correct answer. The 'Enregistrement' section is purely for practice in speaking and listening, with no scoring possible. Firstly, the user hears a question relating to a scene on screen. The question can be replayed as often as needed. The user then records a response and replays both this and the model answer for comparison.

The score for each topic section is shown every time the menu screen appears, and on quitting the student can print out a bronze, silver or gold award, depending on performance. The language content, range of activities, colourful graphics and language quality would make this courseware a very worthwhile item in any language teacher's battery of resources.

Peter Metcalfe, postgraduate student

The Open University

Bright Executive Test for German

Bright Executive is a language testing package for Windows designed for intermediate to advanced students of German. The primary function of this program is to test written and oral comprehension. When starting the program you are immediately presented with the menu which consists of the following three features:

1. Test
2. Conclusion (here you are asked for a password)
3. Quit

You make your choice by selecting a number and pressing 'Enter'.

Test

Here you are asked to make your choice between the 'Written Comprehension Test' and 'The Oral Comprehension Test'. The program is made up of 60 questions on oral comprehension and 80 questions on written comprehension.

Once you have made your choice you enter your name and surname. These details are needed later for the conclusion. You start the test by pressing a key.

Written Comprehension

All you have to do is follow the instructions that appear on the screen. They are easy to follow. It is just like a multiple choice test. You get a sentence with a blank somewhere and four possible solutions. All you have to do is to type the number corresponding to your choice and confirm by pressing 'Enter'. As long you have not confirmed your answer you can change it. The reply time is limited to 45 seconds for each question. The screen tells you on which question number you are currently working. Here is one example:

Sabine, wo ... du?

You get the following choices:

1. ist
2. war
3. bist
4. gehst

There is always only one possible answer. The sentences cover a wide range of verb endings, pronouns, prepositions, interrogatives, accusative, dative and genitive endings, modal verbs, tenses, numbers, idiomatic expressions, subordinate clauses, imperatives, adjectives, subjunctive, passive voice, negatives. There does not seem to be any order of difficulty. Once you have finished with the written comprehension you are asked to do the oral comprehension test.

Oral Comprehension Once you have clicked on the oral comprehension test there does not seem to be an explanation as to what to do. You are presented with three pictures and you can hear a statement. Only after two or three examples are you aware that you have to match one picture out of three with the spoken statement. The reply time is limited to 60 seconds for each question. The question may be repeated just by clicking a button, however the time is taken from the reply time. The oral comprehension test like the written comprehension covers a wide range of topics ranging from the stock exchange through estate agents, working in an office and paying invoices, to car washing and dancing.

After a set of 20 pictures the exercise changes slightly. The user now hears one statement and has to choose between three different statements which express the same as what was said. Idioms are also covered here.

Conclusion In order to enter the conclusion you need a password. The conclusion reveals the names of all testees, the date of the test and how many questions they got right.

You also get comments on students' training and capabilities, again split into written and oral comprehension. You could for example get the following comments:

The person must be capable of thinking in the foreign language structure. Communication is limited to a few short international expressions and constant reference to linguistic aids is necessary.

Summary The general impression one receives from this piece of software is that it is very easy to use and that it is a very intensive testing program. However, there are drawbacks. After choosing an answer it just goes on to the next one without giving you immediate feedback. It seems to be frustrating not to know whether the answer you clicked was right or wrong. There is no learning effect. Another drawback is that you cannot leave the program when you wish to. You actually have to finish one set of tests first. It is also very easy to make a typing error which cannot be rectified and obviously typing errors are not later considered in the conclusion. A native German speaker who did the test got 77 out of 80 in the written comprehension test and only 55 out of 60 in the oral comprehension test. These results were surely due to typing errors.

All in all the program is good for testing capabilities and especially within the oral comprehension test the pictures prove to be a good learning/comprehension aid. The idea of a password to enter the conclusion where all the results are recorded is very sensible to prevent improper use.

English, French and Spanish versions also available. Italian is in preparation.

Elke St. John, University of Sheffield

PP (Participe Pass�)

Version July 1995

Author: Andr� Kahlmann

IBM PC or compatible

Available from: Andr� Kahlmann, University of Stockholm, FriDa Project

A full review of an earlier version of this program was printed in ReCALL November 1994. A few technical improvements have been made, as follows:

• the words which require changes by the student are now highlighted;
• if the student opts to tackle a random choice of questions, the program firstly chooses any questions not yet done or incorrectly done in that session;
• tidying up of a routine which removes blanks and punctuation marks from answers once completed.

Future Reviews

Reviews of the following software packages will appear in ReCALL Vol 8, No 1, May 1996:

Desktop English v 1.32

Authors: W Moore, P Black, J Horton and J Valentine, Sanderson CBT Ltd.

A multimedia CALL package of functional and situational 'Chapters' using authentic texts at elementary and intermediate level.The package also includes an authoring facility and Student Record System.

Jim Ross, London Guildhall University

Quel Mode?, Constructions Infinitives Jul 95

Author: Andr� Kahlmann

These programs, suitable for undergraduate level, provide practice in choosing the subjunctive or indicative respectively.

Peter Metcalfe, Open University

Forthcoming Events

22 March 1996, London: What do learners want? Shifting to a Materials-Focused Culture

Information: CRAC, Sheraton House, Castle Park, Cambridge CB3 0AX, UK, Tel 01223 460277

26-30 March 1996, Chicago, USA: Teachers of English to speakers of other languages

Information: TESOL, 1600 Cameron Street, Suite 300, Alexandria VA 22314-2705, USA

29 March-1 April 1996, Exeter: Language World, Conference of the Association for Language Learning (ALL)

Information: Christine Wilding, ALL, 16 Regent Place, Rugby CV21 2PN, UK,

Tel 01788 546443, Fax 01788 544149

22-24 May 1996, Aalborg, Denmark: EURO EDUCATION '96

Information: Aalborg Kongres & Kultur Center, Postbox 149, Aalborg, DK-9100, Denmark, Tel +45 99 355555, Fax +45 99 355533

27 May - 1 June 1996, Albuquerque, New Mexico: CALICO '96 Symposium

Information: CALICO, Duke University, 014 Language Center, Box 90267, Durham, NC 27708-0267, USA, Tel 919 660 3180,Fax 919 6603183, Email [email protected]

17-18 June 1996, Sheffield: 1st Symposium on Networked Learner Support

Information: Philippa Levy, Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, UK Sheffield S10 2TN, Tel 0114 282 5088,

Fax 0114 2780300, Email [email protected]

22-24 June 1996, Hong Kong: International Conference on Language Rights

Information: Phil Benson, Department of English, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong,

Fax +852 2333 6569,Email [email protected]

1-3 July, 1996, Oxford: Digital Resources for the Humanities

Information: DRH96 Conference, Oxford University Computing Services, 13 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN, UK, Email [email protected]

1-3 July, 1996, Liverpool: MediaActive '96:

Information: Barbara Stewart, Learning Methods Unit, Liverpool John Moores University, 98 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L3 5UZ, UK, Tel 0151 707 2399, Fax 0151 231 3661, Email [email protected]

29-31 August 1996, Szombathely, Hungary: EUROCALL 96

Information: CTI Modern Languages, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK, Tel 01482 466373, Fax 01482 473816, Email [email protected]

5-7 September 1996, Budapest, Hungary:

'Transferre necesse est' conference on Current Trends in Studies of Translation and Interpreting

Information: Kinga Klaudy/Andrea Papp, Hungarian Academy of Science, Office for International Co-operation, H-1051 Budapest, N�dor u 7, Hungary, Tel/Fax +36 1 1172840

16-18 September 1996, Glasgow: ALT-C 96, Conference for the Association for Learning Technology

Information: Mrs Shona Cameron, ALT-C 96, Computer Centre, University of Strathclyde, 100 Cathedral Street, Glasgow G4 0LN, UK

Tel 0141 5524400 ext 3460, Fax 0141 5534100,

Email [email protected]

23-25 October, 1996, Barcelona, Spain: European Writing Conferences of EARLI Special Interest Writing & Writing and Computers Association

Information: EARLI SIG Writing, Liliana Tolchinsky, Tel +34 (3) 428 2142 ext 3384, Fax +34 (3) 402 1016, Email [email protected]

7-9 November, 1996, London: London Language Show

Information: Bruce Campbell/Alison Thomas, Brintex, 32 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SS, Tel +44 (0)171 973 6401, Fax +44 (0)171 233 5054,

Email [email protected]

5-7 December, 1996, Budapest, Hungary: Annual European Association for International Education (EAIE) Conference

Information: EAIE Secretariat, Van Diemenstraat 344, 1013 CR Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Tel +31 20 625 27 27, Fax +31 20 620 94 06, Email [email protected]

11-13 September 1997, Dublin, Ireland: EUROCALL 97

Information: CTI Modern Languages, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK, Tel 01482 466373, Fax 01482 473816, Email [email protected]

13-17 July, 1998, Melbourne, Australia: WORLDCALL Conference

Information: June Gassin, Horwood Language Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia, Email [email protected]

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Last updated 15 December 1998