On-demand generation of individualised language learning lessons

Abstract

This paper is in two parts. In the first part a theoretical structure for learning and teaching foreign/second languages is described in some detail. It argues that knowledge is not transmitted to students but that it is an internal construction which depends heavily on each person’s history. In its second part, the paper goes on to describe a ComputerEnhanced Language-Learning Support System (CELLSS) based on the theoretical framework developed. One of its major features is to enable students to generate, ondemand, lessons which focus on their specific learning needs and thus meet these needs more effectively and efficiently. One of the important consequences of this development is that students have significantly more freedom to engage in asynchronous learning activities responsive to their needs at any time of day or night and in any order. Taken together, these developments undermine some of the classical notions of teaching where an entire class does more or less the same thing at the same time and in the same space. Instead, these developments argue for a much more open, flexible and dynamic learning structure where the classroom is not necessarily the locus of activity. Finally, the paper provides a concrete example of a lesson generated by the system under student control and points to some interesting future research possibilities.