This paper examines research in the field of collaborative learning, concentrating on aspects suitable for use in an intelligent computer assisted language learning (ICALL) system. Current work on the project focuses on the construction of a student model, based on the notion that a model constructed and repaired through collaboration between the system and student will lead to a more accurate representation of the learner's beliefs, and is less likely to be regarded with suspicion by the student. Further, the act of collaboration should promote reflection on both the language to be learnt and the student's approaches to learning.

The Text Analysis Program (TAP) was designed by a team from the Department of European Studies and Modern Languages and the Computer Services Department of the University of Ulster with a view to enhancing language learning techniques for third level language students. Work on the program was funded jointly by the CTI and the University of Ulster. A Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) program was also developed as part of the same project. The program came into service in the academic year 1989-90 when it was tested on three groups of students. Some minor modifications were made before it was reused in 1990-91 and 1991-92 with the group of students who seemed to us most likely to benefit from its use. It is now undergoing further adjustment in the light of the second and third year's experience and is set to become a permanent feature of second year teaching on the BA (Hons) International Business Communication course (IBC). The present paper seeks to evaluate the program under two headings: ease of use and effectiveness as a means of enhancing linguistic awareness and language learning techniques.

The object of this paper is to outline the current thinking of the European Commission, or more accurately of DGXIII in Luxembourg, on the subject of that fascinating point of intersection between language and technology. An initial presentation of background issues will serve as a platform on which to analyse the direction the Commission's policy on linguistic research might take in the 4th Framework Programme (1994–98). Finally some suggestions will be made of ways in which language teachers, and researchers in the field of CALL, could try to become involved in the R+D activities of the Framework Programme (in the short/medium term) and, perhaps more importantly, influence the scientific content of future European Community research programmes.

Both economic pressure - the need to accommodate ever greater numbers of foreign language learners, the increasing demand for distance education - and the educational desirability of self-directed learning have stimulated a great surge of research and practical interest in learner autonomy. And there is little doubt that information technology will be called upon, is already being called upon, to play a major role in the teaching profession's efforts to encourage foreign language learners towards self-reliance and to capitalize on the present appeal of computers. But what do we mean by ‘self-reliance’. What do we mean by ‘autonomy’? And what is the relationship between computer-induced motivation and learning?

Variable and frequently inadequate grammatical competence among language learners is well-documented in school examiners' reports. Aside from curriculum requirements this has a deleterious effect on the acquisition of fluent and generative second (and third) language competence, both productive and receptive, and makes the task for learners much more onerous than it need be. We look to computer assisted learning for help, because of its ability to handle rule-governed domains such as grammar. For once there is a pleasing synergy between what learners need, and what computers can offer. Fluency in foreign languages has improved greatly since the introduction of the ‘communicative method’, so there is less need for computers to address this kind of problem, which is fortunate as they are quite unable to help with feedback on productive performance, or to act as a realistic interlocutor.

Two of the most frequently voiced criticisms of the competences of the average language student entering higher education are lack of accuracy in the use of the written language and lack of knowledge of linguistic terminology or metalanguage for describing and reflecting on the language being learnt. For some useful background to the controversial position of grammar in foreign language learning with particular reference to CALL see Metcalfe (1992). However, far from becoming a laudator temporis acti of the precommunicative era and advocating a return to ‘traditional’ methods of teaching language and grammar, I want in this survey to examine the opportunities afforded by the growing interest in CALL to try to remedy some of the perceived shortcomings in students' performance and knowledge. The software I want to review covers a wide range, from dedicated grammar programs through content-free and level-free authoring packages to other pieces of software which while not specifically intended for improving students grammatical accuracy, can be applied for such a purpose. In studying these representative examples of current practice I hope to establish what may be the advantages of computer based learning over traditional methods and media in grammar teaching and learning and to identify the criteria for good practice in this type of CALL ware. For a recent survey of the evolution of CALL software see Last (1992).

For the last few years an experimental course in ab initio Italian Language for postgraduate students of Renaissance Studies has been run at the University of Warwick. This paper examines the role of concordance programs in assisting the design and implementation of the course. In the light of growing request for Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP), it is argued that the concordancer provides suitable answers to the need to introduce students to subject specific language from an early stage.

Although there is now a growing volume of literature on the role of electronic mail in schools, relatively little has been published about the specific value to modern language teachers of using such technology. In the few cases where projects have been described, it is claimed that such links are ‘valuable’ (NCET, 1991), with an implication that school age students are able to go beyond ‘mere transactional language’ to develop ‘more creative use of language’. This paper describes a language project which began from the premise that for teachers to embark on e-mail, with its additional costs, new approaches to classroom learning and training requirements, it would be essential to establish what realistic learning improvements might be expected. To look closely at the ‘cost-benefit’ ratio was felt to be particularly important in the context of increasingly tight budgetary control in schools.

In present-day language teaching the use of original news programmes received by satellite is becoming more and more important. It is a vital source of up-to-date linguistic material, and gives students a significant sense of direct contact with the country whose language they are studying. But the use of this material presents considerable difficulties. There is not much point in simply asking students to sit through television programmes in the form in which they are broadcast; they tend to fall asleep. Material has to be selected and edited, and a framework of concepts and questions must be constantly provided for purposes of study. Multi-media systems based on microcomputers provide the obvious way of doing this.

In common with similar units in many other British Universities, the Centre for English Language Teacher Education at Warwick University offers support in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) for students whose first language is not English. Students newly arriving from overseas are contacted via their departments and are invited to attend classes covering a range of language skills associated with EAP. Classes are typically well-attended in the first months of the academic year, and attendance tends to fall off in the second term, although there is an upsurge in interest in certain areas, such as Academic Writing, as students become increasingly involved in assignment and dissertation writing.