Reflection: Writing and Grammar

This week's topic retreads a lot of ground.  We talked mainly about using SCMC to enhance writing instruction.  Blogs have been found to increase writing output, wikis lead to thoughtful editing and collaborative writing, and video/screencasts can be used to effectively deliver feedback.  GoogleDocs are a very convenient way to pursue collaborative writing as well, and have features conducive to editing and providing feedback.

That's all well and good, but what kind of caught my imagination this week was an additional article that Alan presented: Emergin technologies focusing on form:  Tools and strategies by Godwin-Jones (2009).  Godwin-Jones presents the idea of an 'intelligent language tutor' (ILT) that abandons the traditional format of CALL grammar instruction.  The ILT doesn't have learners filling out forms or doing sentence scrambles, no sir, the ILT prompts students to produce language and then helps them focus on specific forms (targeted forms, forms with errors, overused forms, etc.).  I think one of the closest things we have to this right now in ELT is ETS's Criterion, in which learners respond to TOEFL-style prompts and receive some pretty good form-focused feedback from the program.

But what about more interactive, back-and-forth, possibly someday conversational focus on form via CALL?  What came to mind that exists now is Cleverbot- an interesting chat bot that's been found to be quite convincing (I think Erin S. mentioned that it passed the Turing test).  You may have seen images on the web of humorous exchanges with the Cleverbot, but I think technology like this has more potential than just providing reddit/9gag fodder.  Cleverbot is really open-ended, but I could see how more delimited interactions could yield more naturalistic responses- say, tasks asking for directions, or negotiating a movie choice.  While simultaneously referencing corpora/a grammar of English, the bot could ask for clarification or give recasts (Google Search style:  "Did you mean <something you didn't exactly type>?").  This sort of technology could potentially be beneficial for people without access to face-to-face interaction or lots of language classes, and could be used to train ESP students (tech support, etc.).