Artificial Intelligence in Second Lang.L (English, Marina Dodigovic)

Product description Review "The book treats a fascinating topic in a unique manner in the way it combines all the fields related to Computer Assisted Language Learning. It will be a valuable contribution to the field." -- Dr Christine Appel, Lecturer, Dublin City University, IrelandThe most praise-worthy aspect of Dodigovic’s book is that it provides a comprehensive overview of theoretical issues and concepts of the interface of artificial intelligence and second language learning. It is noteworthy that this is the first comprehensive, single-authored book in the cross-disciplinary field of NLP and CALL. Dodigovic not only covers a vast amount of related and relevant research, but also provides her own studies on which she bases her analysis and the development and particular design of the artificially intelligent system that is being introduced in this book. This volume is certainly a must-read for anyone interested in cross-disciplinary research of language learning and artificial intelligence. -- Trude Heift, Simon Fraser University ― ReCALL, Volume 18/2, 2006The book is a very comprehensive, detailed and interdisciplinary account of the Research and Development process of a successful example of Intelligent CALL software. The field of CALL can benefit to a great extent from sound research-based and pedagogically-driven projects such as the one described here. Books such as this will no doubt help us ascertain which areas of language learning are most successfully dealt with by the use of CALL technologies. -- Rafael Seiz Ortiz, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain ― EUROCALL Newsletter, Issue No. 10, September 2006The author manages to cover the diverse topics in a successful and engaging manner. -- Monica Ward ― Computer Assisted Language Learning, Oct 2005, Vol. 18 Issue 4 About the Author Dr Marina Dodigovic is an assistant professor of English and TESOL at the American University of Sharjah. She has worked both as an academic in English and applied linguistics and as a computer programmer. Her research interests include Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), academic English and the analysis of learner needs. She has synthesised her skills in these areas to become an author and developer in CALL, with several software packages, a book and a number of other publications in her name. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Artificial Intelligence in Second Language LearningRaising Error AwarenessBy Marina DodigovicMultilingual MattersCopyright © 2005 Marina DodigovicAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-85359-830-2ContentsAcknowledgements, vii, Introduction, 1, 1 Can Another Language Be Learnt?, 8, 2 Where Does Research End and CALL Development Begin?, 47, 3 Why the Web?, 73, 4 Can Computers Correct Language Errors?, 85, 5 How to Develop an Artificially Intelligent Language Tutor?, 140, 6 How Does it Work?, 233, Conclusion, 266, Appendices, 271, Bibliography, 279, Index, 297, CHAPTER 1Can Another Language Be Learnt?BackgroundOccasionally one hears that so-and-so speaks five or seven languages fluently, which seems like a truly remarkable achievement, except for the fact that the speaker as a rule fails to deliver any accurate measure of so-and-so's proficiency in any of those languages. Those who have struggled with another language to little or no avail would most certainly greet such an unqualified statement with a sound dose of scepticism, as they might hold the belief that another language cannot be really mastered to perfection. Is it then possible to learn and use a language other than one's mother tongue with a native like proficiency? If so, at what age would one be most likely to achieve this? Moreover, would that mastery extend to every aspect of the target language, including lexicon and grammar; all language skills including speaking, listening, reading, writing; features such as idiomatic expressions and language based humour; and the command of functional varieties of that language like sociolects or registers? Given the above questions, second language learnability appears to be somewhat of an undefined term, which we will seek to clarify in the following review of literature. In the interim, the stance taken here is that speakers of languages other than English can achieve error free use of written academic English, regardless of their age, especially if provided with a learning aid that accommodates their specific learning needs.The situation that has produced the above assertion is the following. Imagine a university in an English speaking country, e.g. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK or US, which enrols considerably large numbers of students for whom English is a second language. Prior to enrolment, these students would have had to demonstrate some sort of acceptable standard of English, be it through one of the international proficiency tests, such as IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL 550/580, the institution's own internal test or an equivalent language proficiency score