Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning (ICALL), or Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Instruction (ICALI), involves the application of computing technologies to the teaching and learning of second or foreign languages. ICALL combines

Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

with

Computer Assisted Language Learning Computer-assisted language learning (CALL), British, or Computer-Aided Instruction (CAI)/Computer-Aided Language Instruction (CALI), American, is briefly defined in a seminal work by Levy (1997: p. 1) as "the search for and study of applicat ...

(CALL) systems to provide software that interacts intelligently with students, responding flexibly and dynamically to student's learning progress.

Natural language processing Natural language processing (NLP) is an interdisciplinary subfield of linguistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence concerned with the interactions between computers and human language, in particular how to program computers to pro ...

(NLP) and

Intelligent tutoring systems An intelligent tutoring system (ITS) is a computer system that aims to provide immediate and customized instruction or feedback to learners, usually without requiring intervention from a human teacher. ITSs have the common goal of enabling learni ...

(ITS) are prominent computing technologies in artificial intelligence that inform and influence ICALL. Other computing technologies applied to ICALL include

Knowledge representation Knowledge representation and reasoning (KRR, KR&R, KR²) is the field of artificial intelligence (AI) dedicated to representing information about the world in a form that a computer system can use to solve complex tasks such as diagnosing a medic ...

(KP),

Automatic Speech Recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers with the m ...

(ASR),

Neural networks A neural network is a network or circuit of biological neurons, or, in a modern sense, an artificial neural network, composed of artificial neurons or nodes. Thus, a neural network is either a biological neural network, made up of biological ...

, User modelling, and

Expert systems In artificial intelligence, an expert system is a computer system emulating the decision-making ability of a human expert. Expert systems are designed to solve complex problems by reasoning through bodies of knowledge, represented mainly as if� ...

. In relation to language learning, ICALL utilizes

linguistic theory Theoretical linguistics is a term in linguistics which, like the related term general linguistics, can be understood in different ways. Both can be taken as a reference to theory of language, or the branch of linguistics which inquires into the n ...

and theories of second-language acquisition in its pedagogy.

History

ICALL developed from the field of

(CALL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s. ICALL is a smaller field, and not yet fully formed. Following the pattern of most language learning technologies,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

is a prominent language featured in ICALL technology. ICALL programs have also been developed in languages such as

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

, and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

. ICALL systems are also contributing to the learning of languages that are not as accessible to learn (due to a lesser amount of language resources), or less commonly learned languages, such as

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

Features

Intelligent CALL is sometimes called parser-based CALL, due to the heavy reliance that ICALL has on

parsing Parsing, syntax analysis, or syntactic analysis is the process of analyzing a string of symbols, either in natural language, computer languages or data structures, conforming to the rules of a formal grammar. The term ''parsing'' comes from Lati ...

. An example of the function of parsing in an ICALL software is a parser detecting errors in the syntax and morphology of sentences freely generated by student users. After using parsing to find any errors, ICALL can provide

corrective feedback Corrective feedback is a frequent practice in the field of learning and achievement. It typically involves a learner receiving either formal or informal feedback on their understanding or performance on various tasks by an agent such as teacher, ...

to students.

Parsing Parsing, syntax analysis, or syntactic analysis is the process of analyzing a string of symbols, either in natural language, computer languages or data structures, conforming to the rules of a formal grammar. The term ''parsing'' comes from Lati ...

is considered a task of natural language processing. The ability for students to receive feedback on random, uniquely produced sentences places ICALL in a more engaging teacher role. If students are struggling in certain areas, some ICALL systems will invent new sentences or questions in those areas, giving students more practice. Basically, ICALL is meant to intelligently adapt to student learning needs as a student progresses; this often means (partially or wholly) fulfilling a tutor or teacher role. Programs that attempt to fulfill this role are categorized as tutorial ICALL. Non-tutorial ICALL systems include various language tools and dialogue systems, such as a digital interlocutor. Programs for automatically evaluating student-written essays have also been invented, such as th
E-rater

Limitations

ICALL technology still has many issues and limitations, due to the recency of artificial intelligence being integrated into CALL systems, and the complexity of this enormous task. Artificially intelligent educational software should do its best to encompass the linguistic knowledge and pedagogy of a language teacher in order to resolve these issues. This includes tracking student learning, giving feedback, creating new challenging material in response to student needs, understanding effective teaching strategies, and detecting linguistic errors (grammar, spelling, semantics, morphology, and so on). Additionally, ICALL systems take a long time to develop, and developers must consult professionals in many disciplines. Programming ICALL software is a necessarily multi-disciplinary project. Further research and development in ICALL will benefit the fields of

applied linguistics Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, communication rese ...

computational linguistics Computational linguistics is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field concerned with the computational modelling of natural language, as well as the study of appropriate computational approaches to linguistic questions. In general, comput ...

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

educational technology Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edtech, it often refer ...

, to name a few. ICALL will also expand current knowledge about

second language acquisition Second-language acquisition (SLA), sometimes called second-language learning — otherwise referred to as L2 (language 2) acquisition, is the process by which people learn a second language. Second-language acquisition is also the scientific dis ...

. Despite its limitations, ICALL is a worthwhile field, especially as technology progresses.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning Language learning software Language education Educational technology

History

Features

Limitations

See also

References