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As PART of a long-range goal to develop a language-instruction program for Arabic, a project to achieve a computerized VERPS, Verb Exercise and Reference Program with Speech, has been developed. The goal of the project was to develop a system for utilizing high-quality computersynthesized speech for teaching Arabic verbs, and to use this speech system as part of a drill and reference program for these verbs. Work was done on the three aspects of the project: verb selection and recording of basic forms, construction of the drill and practice program, and development of computerized audio synthesis of verb forms given prefix, stem, and suffix information.VERPS can be used to generate the sounds and printed tokens (using a standard transcription, adapted for a computer terminal; see Appendix A) for a large number of common verbs in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) from a relatively small data base. It can also be used to present interactive drill exercises for students, with exercises presented on video-display terminals, accompanied by high-quality computer-synthesized speech. In addition, VERPS is usable as a reference source for information on Arabic verbs, including pronunciation, for both students and researchers.Potential uses of the VERPS system are many; we list here the most obvious:1. VERPS can be used by students to drill Arabic verb forms.2. Using VERPS, an instructor easily will be able to assign virtually limitless kinds of Arabic verb drills for his students.tNowat Four-Phase Systems, Cupertino, Calif.

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