The “Blakkat” Software for Tagging Online Language Learner Corpora: Issues in SLA Assessment and Research

Simone Torsani (1)

1 DISCLIC - Dipartimento di Scienze della Comunicazione Linguistica e Culturale

This paper aims at showing, through a case study, one possible application of Computer Learner Corpus (CLC) to Network Based Language Teaching (NBLT). Research has shown how CLC can be used both for Second Language Acquisiton (SLA) research and Foreign Language Teaching (FLT), especially if they are tagged, that is, if interpretative annotations are added to the corpus (e.g. error annotations). Online learning generally takes place inside virtual environments where learners exchange mainly written asynchronous productions, which can be easily collected into a CLC. Although different tools and systems are used for coding texts, we have developed a flexible web based interface where researchers can define and apply their own set of tags to a given corpus and work at distance. As with many web-based tools, it is not the tool only that is interesting, rather the possibility to transfer the software core, that is its main algorithms, inside a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), in order to allow teachers and researchers to code and analyse their learners productions for those uses shown in literature.

Keywords: computer assisted language learning (CALL); computer learner corpus

Domains: Computer Science [cs]; Technology for Human Learning

Simone Torsani. The “Blakkat” Software for Tagging Online Language Learner Corpora: Issues in SLA Assessment and Research. Young researchers furthering development of TEL research in Central and Eastern Europe, 2007, Sofia, Bulgaria. ⟨hal-00190053⟩