This paper reports on work at the Open University's Centre for Modern Languages (CML) and Institute of Educational Technology (IET), on the use of technology to support language learners working at home and in virtual groups via the Internet. We describe the Lexica On-Line project, which created a learning environment for Open University students of French, incorporating computer-based lexical tools to De used at home, an on-line discussion forum, and guided access to the Francophone Web. We report on some of the outcomes of this project, and discuss the effectiveness of such a configuration for the promotion of reflective language-learning practices.

Many factors affect the learning of a foreign language. When designing computer assisted language learning software it is usually not sufficient to think only about creating an exercise in the language, but students should be modelled in order to allow the program to take account of individuals' beliefs and learning. However, student models are criticised for various reasons, the most common of which include: 1. Modelling the learner places a great burden on the system, as it has sole responsibility for the creation of an accurate student model. 2. Student models are inadequate because it is not possible to model all aspects of a student's knowledge and learning. This paper describes the student model of an intelligent computer assisted language learning (ICALL) system which strives to overcome problems of traditional student models by taking into account issues important in the field of second language acquisition, and research in collaborative approaches to learning.

Though it may not be expressed explicitly, any CALL design reflects a particular conception of teaching and learning. A broad division may be made between learning that focuses on the individual learner, and learning that emphasises social interaction. The first orientation is represented by the work of Piaget, whose conception of learning is individualistic, whereas Vygotsky is the prime example of a theoretician who has focused on social factors. The two perspectives imply widely differing classroom practices, research agendas and techniques. This paper will detail the theoretical underpinnings of the two approaches, and will explore their implications as they relate to research and practice in CALL, with a particular focus on the tertiary level.

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.

The Open University, having just completed its first 25 years, finds itself at an electronic crossroads. In one direction the electronic superhighway and satellite communication stretch forth into the stratosphere of future time. In another, straight ahead, is the well-trodden path of mixed-media open learning, tried, tested and refined over many years. To what extent is it possible to surf on the first with route maps from the second? Are learners at home willing or well-enough equipped to consider scaling new horizons via CD-ROMs, or on-line learning technologies in place of print, audio-cassette and video? What new methodology, if any, needs to be developed to assist this transition?

It is not bold to predict that in many countries it will soon be no morepossible for education systems to be computer-free than it already is for transport systems to be motor-vehicle-free. The technology simply has too much to offer in too many areas for people to ignore it or to be content todo without it. It is therefore in the interest of any community of learnersand teachers that very careful thought be given to the integration of computers into the education process if they are to avoid situations in the classroom that are informatic equivalents of traffic jams, exhaust pollution, lunatic drivers, and road fatalities. On the road, mayhem and casualties are minimised by such things as road rules, town planning, speed limits, vehicle inspection, sign-posting, traffic lights, speed cameras and random breath testing.

Recently we have seen a shift of focus in using the Internet from often inappropriate human-computer interactivity to human-human interaction, based on collaborative learning concepts like learner autonomy and tandem learning. The renewed discussion of interface design has provoked a reconsideration of me traditional graphical user interface and a shift towards more intuitive interfaces like virtual reality, mainly building on the concept of constructionism. The MOO (multi-user domain, object oriented) system provides a flexible, easy-to-use multiple user virtual reality that allows for the integration of language learning tools and resources in a common environment, a third place.

The Horwood Language Centre at the University of Melbourne has recently installed a large Macintosh multimedia laboratory, dedicated to the learning of languages. This has proved an enormously popular facility, both for teachers and students. After only four months of operation, booking requests by teachers for the second semester of 1993 have exceeded capacity by one and a half times; students often queue to use the machines when the laboratory is open for self access.

When the Language Centre began assembling the original submission to the University for funding for the laboratory, Centre staff were still relatively inexperienced in the design and installation of CALL laboratories, and the decision was taken to make extensive use of experts in FT and multimedia presentation within Melbourne University. However, despite this expert assistance, a number of unexpected problems presented themselves, some of which were potentially disastrous to the project.

As a result, the Language Centre has learned a number of valuable lessons about CALL laboratory design. This paper presents some of the more important of these lessons, in the hope that they will be of assistance to any other institutions who may be contemplating the installation of a CALL laboratory in the near future.

In an era in which universities are being encouraged to see the need for strategy development in general, and information systems strategy development in particular, this paper explores some of the influences upon decision-making about information technology in UK university Modern Language departments. Findings from a series of interviews with Modern Language department heads and departmental computing representatives are discussed.

Dans le tout recent ouvrage New Technologies for learning: contribution of ICT to innovation in education, les auteurs rapprochent les merveilles multimédiatiques du mythe de Sisyphe:

“In the history of education the introduction of any new technological tool was accompanied with high expectations regarding its innovating power for learning and instruction. After a period of sporadic use, and some disappointment about the obtained learning outcomes, the arrival of any new technological tool generated a new set of expectations, limited use and resulting frustration. This is what we call the ‘Myth of Sisyphus’, the king of Corinth condemned for ever to roll his stone up a mountain in Hades only to have it roll down again when he neared the top.” (Dillemans, et al. 1998:41).