The integration of CL resources in CALL for Irish in the primary school context
Ward, Monica (2007) The integration of CL resources in CALL for Irish in the primary school context. PhD thesis, Dublin City University.
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It is difficult to integrate Computational Linguistics (CL) techniques in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) artefacts. The Computational Linguistics Integrated in CALL for Irish (CLICI) research1 presented in this dissertation aims to re-use existing CL resources and where suitable ones do not exist, to build its own modular, re-usable resources. The research question addressed was: can existing CL resources be integrated successfully in useful CALL artefacts for Irish for English-medium primary schools in Ireland? Irish is a compulsory subject in Irish primary schools but there are complex socio-cultural issues surrounding the teaching and learning of the language and in general CALL resources are not available for this group of learners.
CL techniques and resources generally do not have CALL as a primary focus. There are often technical and pedagogical problems when CL and CALL researchers aim to integrate them in CALL artefacts. The CLICI project aimed to learn from previous CLICALL projects and determine the pedagogical needs in the deployment context first, and then to consider how CL techniques and resources can be used in CALL artefacts to address these needs. The project followed a structured approach to CALL design and development, using the Analysis Design Development Implementation Evaluation (ADDIE) courseware lifecycle. The CLICI project consists of three components: a Lesson Generation Component (LGC), a Verb Conjugation Component (VCC) and a Writing Checker Component (WCC). The LGC is a tool that facilitates the development of CALL lessons. The VCC enables automatic creation of animated verb conjugation lessons. The WCC enables students to enter free-form texts in Irish and provides feedback.
The CLICI project demonstrated that it was possible to integrate existing CL resources in useful CALL artefacts for Irish in English-medium primary schools. However, the main determiner of success lies in the hands of the teachers and students.
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