Conference article

Feedback Strategies for Form and Meaning in a Real-life Language Tutoring System

Ramon Ziai
Collaborative Research Center 833, Department of Linguistics, ICALL Research Group, LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, University of Tübingen, Germany

Björn Rudzewitz
Collaborative Research Center 833, Department of Linguistics, ICALL Research Group, LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, University of Tübingen, Germany

Kordula De Kuthy
Collaborative Research Center 833, Department of Linguistics, ICALL Research Group, LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, University of Tübingen, Germany

Florian Nuxoll
Collaborative Research Center 833, Department of Linguistics, ICALL Research Group, LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, University of Tübingen, Germany

Detmar Meurers
Collaborative Research Center 833, Department of Linguistics, ICALL Research Group, LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, University of Tübingen, Germany

Download article

Published in: Proceedings of the 7th Workshop on NLP for Computer Assisted Language Learning (NLP4CALL 2018) at SLTC, Stockholm, 7th November 2018

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 152:10, p. 91-98

NEALT Proceedings Series 36:10, p. 91-98

Show more +

Published: 2018-11-02

ISBN: 978-91-7685-173-9

ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)

Abstract

We describe ongoing work on an English language tutoring system currently being used as part of regular instruction in twelve German high school classes. In contrast to the traditional ICALL system approach analyzing learner language, we build on the approach of Rudzewitz et al. (2018) to generate variants of target answers based on task and target language models and combine this offline step with an online process flexibly matching learner answers with these variants. We extend the approach by advancing the search engine used in the online step to return more relevant results. Then we extend the approach to meaning-focused feedback, showing how it can be realized in the system in addition to the form-focused feedback. We conclude with an outlook on an intervention study we have designed to evaluate the system.

Keywords

language tutoring systems, ICALL, feedback

References

Steven Burrows, Iryna Gurevych, and Benno Stein. 2015. The eras and trends of automatic short answer grading. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 25(1):60–117.

John B. Carroll and Stanley M. Sapon. 1959. Modern language aptitude test. Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, TX, US.

Inn-Chull Choi. 2016. Efficacy of an ICALL tutoring system and process-oriented corrective feedback. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 29(2):334–364.

Ana Díaz Negrillo, Detmar Meurers, Salvador Valera, and Holger Wunsch. 2010. Towards interlanguage POS annotation for effective learner corpora in SLA and FLT. Language Forum, 36(1–2):139–154.

Thilo Götz and Oliver Suhre. 2004. Design and implementation of the uima common analysis system. IBM Systems Journal, 43(3):476–489.

Trude Heift. 2004. Corrective feedback and learner uptake in call. ReCALL, 16(2):416–431.

Trude Heift. 2010. Prompting in CALL: A longitudinal study of learner uptake. Modern Language Journal, 94(2):198–216.

Alison Mackey. 2006. Feedback, noticing and instructed second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 27(3):405–430.

Detmar Meurers and Markus Dickinson. 2017. Evidence and interpretation in language learning research: Opportunities for collaboration with computational linguistics. Language Learning, 67(2).

Detmar Meurers, Kordula De Kuthy, Verena Möller, Florian Nuxoll, Björn Rudzewitz, and Ramon Ziai. 2018. Digitale Differenzierung benötigt Informationen zu Sprache, Aufgabe und Lerner. Zur Generierung von individuellem Feedback in einem interaktiven Arbeitsheft [Digitial differentiation requires information on language, task, and learner. On the generation of individual feedback in an interactive workbook]. FLuL – Fremdsprachen Lehren und Lernen, 47(2):64–82.

Detmar Meurers, Ramon Ziai, Niels Ott, and Stacey Bailey. 2011. Integrating parallel analysis modules to evaluate the meaning of answers to reading comprehension questions. IJCEELL. Special Issue on Automatic Free-text Evaluation, 21(4):355–369.

Noriko Nagata. 1996. Computer vs. workbook instruction in second language acquistion. CALICO Journal, 14(1):53–75.

Björn Rudzewitz, Ramon Ziai, Kordula De Kuthy, Verena Möller, Florian Nuxoll, and Detmar Meurers. 2018. Generating feedback for English foreign language exercises. In Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications (BEA), pages 127–136. ACL.

Gerard Salton and Michael J. McGill. 1983. Introduction to modern information retrieval. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Citations in Crossref