Schedule: 2009-09-12 (12:45 - 13:30)
Parallel Session 5 (Room A-35)

Title: The Integration of ICALL-based Collaboration with the English Classroom
Authors: Elena Bárcena, Timothy Read
Abstract: The aim of this article is to present a novel way in which face-to-face English language classes can be optimally complemented by innovative ICALL (Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning) software. The software uses a linguistic formalism based upon the Systemic-Functional approach integrated with the notional-functional syllabus model from The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (Council of Europe, 2001), and a cognitive and social constructivist pedagogic framework to enable individual and collaborative learning.

During the last decades, there has been an increasingly strong trend away from instructivist proposals in favour of constructivist ones. There are many different views within Constructivism, but it is commonly agreed that it is the individual's processing of the environment and the resulting cognitive structures that produce learning, rather than the environment itself. The constructivist approach to learning (also referred to as the Learner-centered and Discovery-based Approach) combines research from Cognitive Psychology and Social Psychology. In essence, the idea is that a learner builds knowledge and skills, and information is “contained” within these built constructs.

After prototypical communicative language competence has been acquired in the classroom, the ICALL software is used to enable a student to apply and extend it. Each software activity has its counterpart in the classroom, and hence, the results of the computer-based work are subsequently consolidated in face-to-face sessions, following the constructivist paradigm. Persistent limitations in natural language processing which hinder the use of ICALL software for the analysis of unrestricted student linguistic production are sidestepped here by the system’s integration with relevant learning activities in the classroom. This software needs to be generic in the sense that it is reusable for any given language course simply by changing the contents (and their causal connections), thereby overcoming the stumbling block of Artificial Intelligence system building. This research is being materialized by the design and development of a computer system called I-AGENT (Intelligent Adaptive Generic ENglish Tutor).
Keywords: ICALL, CEFR, Systemic Functional Linguistics, Collaboration, Cognitive and Social Constructivism

Main topic: Innovative e-learning solutions for languages

Biodata: Elena Bárcena is a senior lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the UNED and has been responsable for the ATLAS (Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Linguistic Aplications) research group for more than a decade. Timothy Read is a senior lecturer in Computer Science at the UNED and is Vice-Chancellor for Technological Innovation and Development.
Type of presentation Paper presentation

Paper category Research

Target educational sector Adult education

Language of delivery English

EU-funded project No

Schedule:	2009-09-12 (12:45 - 13:30) Parallel Session 5 (Room A-35)
Title:	The Integration of ICALL-based Collaboration with the English Classroom
Authors:	Elena Bárcena, Timothy Read
Abstract:	The aim of this article is to present a novel way in which face-to-face English language classes can be optimally complemented by innovative ICALL (Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning) software. The software uses a linguistic formalism based upon the Systemic-Functional approach integrated with the notional-functional syllabus model from The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (Council of Europe, 2001), and a cognitive and social constructivist pedagogic framework to enable individual and collaborative learning. During the last decades, there has been an increasingly strong trend away from instructivist proposals in favour of constructivist ones. There are many different views within Constructivism, but it is commonly agreed that it is the individual's processing of the environment and the resulting cognitive structures that produce learning, rather than the environment itself. The constructivist approach to learning (also referred to as the Learner-centered and Discovery-based Approach) combines research from Cognitive Psychology and Social Psychology. In essence, the idea is that a learner builds knowledge and skills, and information is “contained” within these built constructs. After prototypical communicative language competence has been acquired in the classroom, the ICALL software is used to enable a student to apply and extend it. Each software activity has its counterpart in the classroom, and hence, the results of the computer-based work are subsequently consolidated in face-to-face sessions, following the constructivist paradigm. Persistent limitations in natural language processing which hinder the use of ICALL software for the analysis of unrestricted student linguistic production are sidestepped here by the system’s integration with relevant learning activities in the classroom. This software needs to be generic in the sense that it is reusable for any given language course simply by changing the contents (and their causal connections), thereby overcoming the stumbling block of Artificial Intelligence system building. This research is being materialized by the design and development of a computer system called I-AGENT (Intelligent Adaptive Generic ENglish Tutor).
Keywords:	ICALL, CEFR, Systemic Functional Linguistics, Collaboration, Cognitive and Social Constructivism
Main topic:	Innovative e-learning solutions for languages
Biodata:	Elena Bárcena is a senior lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the UNED and has been responsable for the ATLAS (Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Linguistic Aplications) research group for more than a decade. Timothy Read is a senior lecturer in Computer Science at the UNED and is Vice-Chancellor for Technological Innovation and Development.
Type of presentation	Paper presentation
Paper category	Research
Target educational sector	Adult education
Language of delivery	English
EU-funded project	No