Computers and Language Learning

Abstract

This paper investigates how computers together with Internet technologies help people in the learning of languages. To achieve this goal, it analyses open source libraries that a teacher can use to build educational applications. The text contains a short discussion on how to build such tools, using methods of programming proposed by Richard Stallman and Paul Graham. It also shows that computers help to improve language skills in those children with low reading abilities. Finally, it provides an overview of linguistic and computational tools that a teacher can use to check a student's grammar. Of course, in order to build a practical grammar checker, the reader must have a working knowledge of Lisp and Prolog. In few words, the reader will not only see the magic of programs that understand English grammar, but learn how one can reproduce it.