Transcript Chapter 8 Language and the Computer

Chapter Ten
Language and
the Computer
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
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.
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.

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.

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.
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.
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;



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.
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.
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.
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.

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.
1.3 Integrative CALL


Multimedia: CD-ROM (text, graphics,
sound, animation, and video)  hypermedia
The Internet: computer-mediated
communication (CMC)
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.
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.
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.



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.
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.

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.

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.
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.

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.


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.
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


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.


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.
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.







Non-linguistic theories used:
information theory
neural networks
connectionism
parallel processing
statistical methods
etc.




Practical approaches:
the transfer approach
the interlingual approach
the knowledge-based approach
2.3 Areas of MT




MT quality
MT and the internet
Spoken language translation
MT and human translation
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.
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.
3.2 Concordance
poor in Tale of Two Cities, Book 1
3.4 Dictionary making:
Collins COBUILD
3.5 The roles of corpus data





Speech research
Lexical studies
Semantics
Sociolinguistics
Psycholinguistics
4. Information retrieval




Three main areas of research:
content analysis
information structure
evaluation
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
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.


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.

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-ofconsciousness style.

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.


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.

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.



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.


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.
5.2 Abbreviations commonly used
in online communication







afk
bbl
bbiab
brb
btw
cya
gmta
away from keyboard
be back later
be back in a bit
be right back
by the way
see ya
great minds think alike








j/k
irl
lol
nick
rotfl
ttfn
ttyl
wb
just kidding
in real life
laughing out loud
internet nickname
rolling on the floor laughing
ta ta for now
talk to you later
welcome back
5.3 Emoticons/smileys







:-)
|-)
|-D
:->
:-(
:-|
:-O
ha ha
hee hee
ho ho
hey hey
boo boo
hmmm
oops










:-*
:-o
{}
:-o
#:-o
:-0
|:-O
:-)))
>;-('
:'-(
oooops
uh oh!
'no comment'
oh, no!
oh, no!
ohhhhhh!
big ohhhhhh!
reeeaaaaaallllly happy
I am spitting mad
I am crying










<3
I love you
:'-)
I am so happy, I am
crying
:-@
I am screaming
((H)))
a big hug
:-X
a big wet kiss
:-D
I am laughing (at you!)
|-O
I am bored/yawning/snoring
:-o zz z z Z Z I am bored
:-S
I am confused
:-e
I am disappointed










(:-...
|-|
(@@)
@*&$!%
**-(
:^D
M:-)
:+(
=-o
<=-O
I am heart-broken
I am going to sleep
You're kidding!
you know what that means....
I am very, very shocked
great! I like it!
I salute you (respect)
I am hurt by that remark
I am suprised
I am frightened





=-<>
$->
:-~(~~~
=^)
>w
I am awe struck
I am happily excited
I am moved to tears
I am open minded
oh really! (ironic)