Abstract:

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) programs can generate error messages to help students in several ways. The author of material used in a program can anticipate that certain questions will generate certain errors. If a student then makes such errors, the author can then direct the program to generate an appropriate comment. An easier solution is to program a computer to recognize several different kinds of generic errors not related to any particular question but applicable to many situations, in order to generate error messages automatically. The techniques used by the ELSE language-learning programs to do that are described to enable others to adapt them to similar CALL programs.

Author: John Robin Allen