A MICROWORLD FOR SECOND-LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Authors

  • Stephen Harroff

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v3i3.31-33

Keywords:

language lab, German, microworld, Apple computers, experimentation, culture, language acquisition, INFORMATIK I, computer program, SuperPILOT

Abstract

The integration of computers into our language laboratories must involve rethinking the concept of the laboratory as a setting for experimentation to include the fields of experimentation with linguistic concepts, with culture, and with language acquisition.This article describes a German-language microworld for fostering language acquisition—for learning a computer language through a natural language. "INFORMATIK I" is a course on the nature of language, on CAI, and on the programming language, SuperPILOT, a course in which German is the medium for communicating and learning. Following the course description is that of a disk-based tutorial on the instruction  set of SuperPILOT. This tutorial reflects the premise of the course, that experimentation fosters comprehension, and includes a series of laboratory experiments for students to complete—all couched in German.

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Published

2013-01-14

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Harroff, S. (2013). A MICROWORLD FOR SECOND-LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. CALICO Journal, 3(3), 31-33. https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v3i3.31-33