COMPUTER-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING(CALL) environments provide tools such as word-processing and database searching which encourage creative interaction by students with a rich environment for foreign language learning supported by databases of reference materials.! The new technology also encourages the direct involvement of instructors in the learning process, by offering the possibility of recording student responses and response paths in real time. This previously inaccessible "window" into the students' searches in the dictionary or grammar reference during the composing process now permits new insights into the way students process language information. Not only does this possibility permit evaluation of the effectiveness of the instructional software and setting, but it also raises interesting questions about the teaching and learning processes. How do learners interact with this new learning environment? How do they exploit the computerized resources? What does studentcomputer interaction imply about learning and teaching?We sought to answer these questions in a pilot study of first-and second-year learners of French attempting composition assignments with a fully supported and documented software system for foreign language learning called Systeme-D (21).2 Systeme-D is a writing tool for learners of French which combines a bilingual word-processor with an interconnected set oflanguage reference materials consisting of a bilingual dictionary, a reference grammar with usage notes, and a thematic collection of sit-The Modern Language Journal, 74, iv (1990) 0026-7902/90/0004/440 $1. 50/0 ©1990 The Modern Language Journal uational/topicallfunctional vocabulary and phrases. We tracked the learner's ongoing interaction with these resources during a composing task by recording keystrokes on the microcomputer; combinations of keystrokes were designated as particular "query events," which could then be related to changes and additions in the student composition. This paper reports on the use of Systeme-D as a research tool to investigate the types of queries made by the language learner during the composing process. These queries represent different strategies for trying to construct meaning in L2, and they suggest different types of developmental interlanguage hypotheses made by classroom L2 learners.One of the most pervasive features of the linguistic behavior of the beginning language learner is the attempt at direct translation. The initial assumption by the learner seems to be that for every word in L1 there is a one-to-one lexical match in L2. We have called this assumption or heuristic about L2 the naive lexical hypothesis because of the lexical (rather than grammatical) focus of the learner's thinking. The purpose of this paper is to examine the naive lexical hypothesis (NLH) as it is revealed in student query behavior at the computer. We will explore the relationship of the NLH to three different classes of learner queries which represent different levels of sophistication in interlanguage hypotheses. BAC...
Certain uses of the present progressive in informal spoken English discourse remain difficult for even the most advanced ESL learners. This article focuses on the increasing frequency of the so‐called stative verbs found in the progressive aspect. It is proposed that the use of stative verbs in the progressive is not necessarily exceptional or contrary to standard accounts of the English present progressive; rather, it is a predictable consequence of the meaning of the present progressive and the particular discourse contexts in which progressive statives are found. A consideration of the progressive from a discourse perspective provides a principled account of the discrepancy between grammar book and usage and offers a number of implications for ESL pedagogy.
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