This overview first discusses importance of educational technology research on second language learning and its assistance from the viewpoint of ever growing tendency of globalization of human activities, necessity of cultural coexistence and ICT innovation. It then describes the purpose of the present special issue planned with this respect and titled "Second Language Education and CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning)", presenting the numbers of submitted papers and accepted papers, as well as the structure of the issue. The third section discusses the current status of studies on CALL and their prospects in the future, complementing the review paper by Dr. S. Fukaya which focuses on research-historical issues on CALL. The forth section introduces source point researches from which researches on education of Japanese as second language and its ICT assistance flowed out, augmenting the review paper by Prof. K. Nishina which concentrates mainly on the present status of researches on the systems for assisting learning Japanese. The fifth section classifies and briefly reviews the accepted papers. The final section comments on recommended ways of studying and writing papers on educational technology researches on second language education as well as proposals on the roles to be played by JSET as mediator between its member researchers and practitioners of the field.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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An effective use of timing was examined in this study in order to maximize caption effects on listening comprehension of Japanese EFL learners. The results showed that more information was recalled when L2 captions were presented before the corresponding L2 audio. It was suggested that this presentation timing would facilitate the listening comprehension of EFL learners, allowing them double input - simultaneous processing of audio and visual information. This effect was not seen in the use of LI captions, where student performance was relatively independent of timing and dual input.

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The goal of this paper is to build a theoretical framework to ethnographically study Japanese university-level students' English language learning in a camp setting, based on literature review. The English language training camp is an informal voluntary gathering aimed at learning to speak English, with undergraduate TAs organizing and participants participating. The conceptualization of language learning as learning of culture in the target language provides a framework within which to view the course of learning trajectory of learners in a holistic manner. Further, language learning viewed as part of socialization process informs this inquiry, since learning to speak second language inevitably entails becoming a member in a speech community. Another useful theoretical position is that of communities of practice which allows to view such a training camp as a community of learning to speak English with language viewed as one of the most important resources speakers can use to get things done, and to do things in collaboration. We also suggest relevance of such a study to second language learning in the age of computer network.

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In order to realize the educational environment for efficient foreign language learning, many researches are made using speech and language technology. As the current technology is based upon statistical methods, it naturally requires large databases. Although various kinds of speech databases have been built since the early 90's, the number of non-native speech databases currently available is very small. To build a speech database for CALL system development, proficiency scores of the individual speakers rated by teachers and speech samples of native speakers' reading the same material should also be provided. As far as the authors know, there are no databases currently available which are designed by considering these requirements. A national project of "Advanced Utilization of Multimedia to Promote Higher Educational Reform" began in 2000 and under this project, a large English speech database read by Japanese students and a speech database containing the same material read by Americans were designed and developed with pronunciation proficiency labels assigned by English teachers. In this paper, preparations for the database development, specifications, recording methods used, and strategies adopted for the labeling are described.

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There are many kinds of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) materials that have been developed. However making those materials takes a lot of time and efforts. And many times, learners lose interests if they use these materials repeatedly, because the contents are fixed (they are usually distributed by CDs). If dynamic materials can be presented continuously and easily, then learners can pick materials that they are interested in. For that purpose, we developed a CALL contents creating system (CALL Content Creator) that can construct CALL materials from TV news programs or video materials and captions. The Creator can be used either by learners or teachers in an easy procedure. The Creator can synchronize speech and captions, and we developed a method to synchronize a subchannel and captions. We also made a CALL listening materials player (CALL Player) as a tool to carry out materials that are made by the Creator. The Player can display speech synchronously with captions. We described functions of the Creator and the Player in this paper. In our experiment, we proved that by using the Player, subjects could increase their language test results. In questionnaires for subjects, we got positive answers for the CALL materials.

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Corpora are often utilized for language education and writing support but it is not easy for Japanese learners to pick the illustrative sentences that are useful for word choice. Therefore, we propose illustrative-sentences clustering to catch out necessary illustrative sentences from example search results. And we describe that the illustrative-sentences clustering is useful in order to solve problems of word choice in English writing. In addition, we propose a method to classify the examples and propose the use of phrase structure information in order to materialize the illustrative-sentences clustering. Based on these, we developed "SOUP" that is a prototype of the illustrative-sentences search tool using phrase structure. This prototype tool can search for phrases including a specified word and reveal of the co-occurrence relations of words and phrases.

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Recently, with the popularity of Chinese language and lacking of an efficient learning method, the needs of a more effective learning system have increased. School of Letters, Arts and Science of Waseda University developed a CD-ROM based Chinese language learning system focusing on the listening drill and showed its effectiveness through lectures in 2002. Based on this result, we have developed a web-based Chinese language system for self-learning over the Internet. In this system, the efficient lecture production and effective delivery of multimedia teaching materials are realized by utilizing a multimedia lecture description language.

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The purpose of the present study was to propose a learning approach to improve Japanese college learners' English listening skills by a combination of CALL self-study and classroom activities. The CD-ROM CALL teaching material that was used in the study, College Life was designed to improve English communicative skills of Japanese college learners to the advanced level by listening to interviews with professors, students, and administrative staff filmed at the University of California, Berkeley. The "Three-Step Auditory Comprehension Approach" was adopted as the basic theory in the development of the courseware. Classroom activities consisted of confirmation quizzes on the assigned self-study material, instruction on effective listening strategies, and motivating learners by presenting examples of communication strategies, communication breakdowns, and cultural differences. A total of 46 Japanese college students registered in general education English classes participated in the experiment for 10 weeks. The result of the experiment showed that the students' average scores measured by the TOEIC Listening Section improved by 52 points. It was, therefore, concluded that the learning approach proposed in this study could be effectively used for improving Japanese college students' listening skills.

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Through this study and experiment, we have developed and practiced a new way to more effectively use the CALL system in the "Movie English" class for students of English/British-American literature Department. In the past, the co-researcher taught the subject only using video film with English captions. We have, however, collaborated and developed a Web technology of dynamic synchronization system for the class. In the old system and almost all the language learning classes of this kind, the superimposed captions/lines are prepared in advance, presented to the students, but they are only synchronized with the sound of movie. There is no function to synchronize the students' answers in text form with the sound input from the web page directly and simultaneously. By our new system, however, students are able to check and compare on the spot their own and others' listening comprehension results in that the results are shown as captions on the video screen synchronized with the video picture and sound. We have practiced and revised this new system for the past three years, and the improved system has been proven successful and practical. Our new system has been developed taking into consideration the following three important functions/aspects indispensable to an effective way of improving students' listening comprehension skill-- (1) functionability in the class, (2) user interface both for teacher and student, and (3) students' evaluation. Results of questionnaires conducted in our class show that both teachers and students have highly evaluated this system, and we are confident of the effectiveness of our new system for English learning/teaching.

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This study designed a learning environment in which classroom-based autonomy is facilitated. The results from the implementation in Public Speaking, an English course at college level, suggest the following. (1)The learners connected the classroom works and significant perspectives for Informative Speaking. (2) They integrated the direct experiences into abstract conceptualizations, and developed them for goal setting. (3) The learners also evaluated their actions objectively against their goals.

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A CD-ROM-based CALL program focusing on Japanese listening comprehension has been developed using the "Three Step Auditory Comprehension Approach." This material explores current social issues in Japanese society. The effectiveness of the program was measured in a classroom setting using pre and post tests. These tests indicate a notable increase in Japanese language ability, especially in the area of vocabulary. Additionally, the results from an opinion survey show an overall high level of satisfaction with the program. In order to see if the program is appropriate and helpful for learners, class activities of learners were observed and their study records were analyzed. Overall results suggest that this CD-ROM program is an effective and beneficial learning tool.

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This study seeks to investigate the optimum learning environment for self-directed study. For this purpose, a three-week self-directed study project was conducted, using advanced Japanese reading material developed by the authors. Based on the idea that learner autonomy, enhanced by on-going motivation, is essential for successful self-directed study, two tasks were introduced : 1) a learning report in which students record and submit anything related to his/her study, and 2) a post-reading discussion with other specified learners on the content of the readings. As a result, learning frequency and total study time were increased compared to cases without these two tasks. Japanese proficiency was improved in vocabulary and listening, and new knowledge was acquired through the content of the materials. It was also revealed through the analysis by the ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction) motivation model that learners' motivation to continue the self-directed study autonomously was strengthened and widened through using the two tasks.

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I've created web-based teaching materials for French language and examined their effectiveness through tests held during classes. As it was impossible to organize any experimental class, I couldn't arrange the control experiment. However, the actual situation in the class could be better reflected in the results. As the results of the research, it's revealed that hints given in texts are effective. In addition, compared with the exercises given in face-to-face classes, students' results turned out to be more widely varied after the practices with web-based materials. The production of web-materials which lets learner's concentration last is a future subject.

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This paper addresses the trial-and-error process of developing a software tutorial for web-based cross-cultural learning. The authors discuss the design and redesign of At Home in Japan : What No One Tells You, for which they attempted to develop (1) contents that could effectively communicate cross-cultural issues, and (2) an effective learning vehicle for those contents. Extensive reviews of early versions of the tutorial found the contents to be worthwhile and persuasive. However, the site environment was considered comparatively ineffective at communicating them. In response to feedback calling for more interactivity, the authors initiated a thorough redesign of the tutorial. This article offers an overview of the content development for At Home in Japan : What No One Tells You, summarizes the evaluation process, and details design strategies implemented to make the tutorial more interactive. The process has obliged us to consider (1) what interactivity might mean in a web environment, (2) its role in performative cross-cultural learning, and (3) whether "old tools" -methods of composition borrowed from the visual and performing arts-have a useful place in web design.

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