Using the Microcomputer to Bridge the Language Gap

Abstract

English mother tongue speakers begin second language learning with a built-in disadvantage, namely their mother tongue. It contains no concept of gender in the grammatical sense; its verb system uses multiple instead of single forms; grammatical inflection is reduced to who/whom/whose.

This paper will address firstly the problem of language distance and the implied necessity to create new cognitive processes; secondly it will analyze some simple, yet seemingly effective, computer programs available on the UK market for FLL; thirdly it will suggest that the micro computer can help students develop necessary process of thought and analysis that are absent in their own language but which are needed for a "natural" mastery of a second language.