The German Prepositional Phrase: A Pilot CALL Module

Abstract

<p>As an instructor of beginners' German, the author of this thesis was introduced to the computer as a medium to teach foreign/second languages and wished to discover how effective the computer is as an aid to language learning.</p> <p>In order to look at the effectiveness of computer assisted language learning, the author of this thesis looked into the history and development of computer assisted language instruction and summarized the research in Part 1 of this thesis.</p> <p>To give the author first-hand experience with computer assisted language instruction, some computer exercises were prepared by her to be used in a pilot study conducted during the academic year 1989-90. A discussion of effective topics taught by computers as well as the set-up and results of this pilot study are given in Part 2 of this thesis.</p> <p>Finally, Part 3 of this thesis contains some general conclusions about computers as a medium in the language classroom. The most interesting conclusion, the computer's affect on student motivation, is drawn directly from the comments of the students involved in the pilot study as well as the author's own experience with language students using the computer as a learning tool.</p>