The globalisation of business and the internationalisation of companies witnessed over the past decade has increased the need for business people operating across cultures to become both culturally and linguistically aware. The evolution of multimedia computing means that learning material can be created which amalgamates video, subtitles, tasks, text and a variety of support tools. This environment lends itself to the provision of learning opportunities and materials which aim to develop cultural understanding. This paper describes an on-going development project entitled SELECT which is creating multimedia courseware to develop cross-cultural awareness of the British business context. The paper outlines the background to the creation of the courseware and the needs it aims to meet. The theoretical underpinning of the development is outlined, covering the nature of cross-cultural competence, its development and the fit between the capabilities of multimedia and such competence. The approach taken and methods used to research and construct a valid, empirically-based cross-cultural syllabus relevant for those doing business with Britain is described and exemplified. The process of creating the courseware, including the authentic video assets and configuration of the learning design is discussed. The paper concludes with projections of future developments in technology assisted development of cross-cultural competence.

As one branch of CALL research moves further into the analysis of software integration into second language courses, this paper deals with many of the issues involved in the successful integration of a piece of multimedia software into a language curriculum designed for non-specialist advanced undergraduate students of French. After discussing the background and context of the research, the paper describes the software used and the surrounding integration aspects as well as the future use and development of the software as adequate courseware and research material.

The Internet offers a wealth of information and unlimited resources that teachers can use in order to expose students to authentic language use. Exposure, however, is not enough to trigger language acquisition. Students need to be involved in tasks that integrate the use of computers and enhance language acquisition. This paper outlines an instructional system designed to guide English as a Second Language (ESL) students through their exploration of the Internet and carry out projects that will ultimately help them improve their reading and writing skills and enrich their vocabulary. Through this instructional system the benefits of using the Internet for ESL purposes with different types of students in different educational environments can be maximised.

This paper is about the development of an authoring tool for computerised reading comprehension exercises. The software tools used and some problems encountered using them are described. Using the authoring tools and running the program are discussed and the first experiences reported.

Formes Cachées is a visuo-spatial puzzle in the form of a computer game. Users participate in the game by means of a natural language interface through which they ask questions and give instructions. Solving the puzzle therefore involves using language in a purposeful way as a tool rather than as subject matter. This article describes a French version of the game. In its current form the game would be mainly of novelty value in foreign language teaching, but its techniques could be used in creating software to cover a more extensive range of language.

The software, which runs under Microsoft Windows in 800 x 600 SVGA, may be downloaded from the CT1 Modern Languages World Wide Web server, http://www.hull.ac.uk/cti/software.htm

Within the context of on-going research,1 this paper explores the pedagogical implications of contrastive analyses of multiword units in English and Spanish based on electronic corpora as a CALL resource. The main tenets of collocations from a contrastive perspective – and the points of contact and departure between both languages – are discussed prior to examining the commonest types of verb + noun combinations as a significant case of so-called ‘de-lexicalized’, ‘light’, ‘empty’, ‘thin’, ‘stretched’ or ‘support verbs’. A qualitatively and quantitatively-oriented case study is accordingly conducted, determining the weight of dar in support verb constructions within the Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual (CREA) and of the English equivalent stretched verb constructions with give within the British National Corpus (BNC). Based on the empirical data obtained in this way, this paper provides relevant insights for more accurate translations, helping to enhance the collocational competence of L2 students, who tend to avoid constructions including empty verbs like give in favour of full-verb forms. The detailed findings in this paper come to shed light on the potential of CALL resources for improving the collocational usage of foreign-language learners, as quantitative and qualitative comparisons of collocations based on electronic corpora serve to highlight the similarities and, more importantly, the lexical and typological differences between both languages, thereby substantiating the invaluable role that corpus analysis may play for language teaching in general and for collocational knowledge and proficiency in particular.

With more than 1,200 publications over the past two decades, experimental mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) studies targeting second/foreign language (L2) acquisition outcomes are certainly not lacking in quantity. Their research quality, on the other hand, has often been brought into question, most notably with regard to the adequacy of their assessment instruments and statistical analyses. Yet limiting the determination of research quality to the evaluation of testing procedures, and the statistical analysis of the results they produce, ignores the critical relevance of the underlying research parameters that generate the results in the first place. A comprehensive evaluation of quantitative experimental L2 acquisition MALL research quality, encompassing design as well as assessment instruments and statistical analysis, thus remains to be undertaken. The present investigation endeavors to do so based on an extensive compilation of 737 MALL studies published between 2000 and 2021. The research quality of these publications is evaluated according to four main parameters: language acquisition moderators, treatment intervention conditions, assessment instruments, and statistical analysis. These are applied according to a modified version of the Checklist for the Rigor of Education-Experiment Designs (CREED), which classifies research design quality into five levels: low, medium-low, medium, medium-high, high. With over three quarters of all studies falling within the low category, the result leaves much to be desired. Since the modified CREED algorithm developed here can equally be applied to studies from their inception, it offers a way forward to improve the research quality of future experimental MALL studies.

As Japanese uses three writing systems (hiragana, katakana, and the ideograms known as kanji), and as materials in the target language include all three, it is a major challenge to learn to read and write quickly. This paper focuses on interactive multi-media methods of teaching Japanese reading which foster learner autonomy.

As little has been published on interactive multi-media methods of teaching Japanese reading, it seems likely that traditional resources are generally used for this activity. The courseware includes sound files showing the pronunciation of each kana as well as simultaneous animation showing how to write each character. This paper investigates whether interactive courseware, used independently of classroom interaction, results in measurably greater recognition of the hiragana syllabary than more traditional methods. After briefly situating the study in the context of research on the teaching of Japanese reading and learner autonomy, the paper will present the courseware as well as an empirical study comparing the results of the use of the courseware by learners at beginners’ level: one group using the courseware, and the other using paper-based materials. This is followed by an account of learner diaries written by zero-beginner level learners of Japanese using the courseware.

The study indicates that acquisition of a recognition-level knowledge of hiragana is approximately twice as fast using the courseware as using paper-based materials. Learners also learned to write the hiragana without explicit instruction.

EUROCALL continued to operate from the Language Institute at the University of Hull. The former CTI Centre for Modern Languages became part of a much larger Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies, in turn part of the Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) funded by the UK Higher Education funding bodies. The team at Hull is responsible for aspects of the Centre’s activities relating to communication and information technologies (C&IT), and consists of June Thompson, Fred Riley and Julie Venner who serves as EUROCALL membership secretary. We were pleased to be joined in May 2000 by Janet Bartle who is the Academic Co-ordinator, C&IT for the Subject Centre.

The paper reviews selected Web sites for French grammar, from the student' point of view. The investigation looks at the content of sites and potential for learning.The conclusion is that the Web for French is both underused and chaotic but there is evidence that, with imagination, it could become a useful resource.