This paper presents a twelve-month evaluation of a Web-based CALL Project at London Guildhall University, highlighting its rationale and objectives within the design process, the adopted methodology and its findings, shedding further light on students’ attitudes regarding CALL design, multimedia delivery and language learning practices. The evaluated CALL environment, stemming from previously identified user requirements, combines both hypertext navigation with Java-written interactive CALL exercises and provides a built-in authoring mode for increased adaptability. Techniques used involved peer evaluation and discussions in the formative stages of the design as well as user walkthroughs, questionnaires and workshops in the summative phase of the process. Data related to requirements and feedback are presented, emphasising the user-centred approach and its integration within the design process itself. Finally, changes brought about by the evaluation are shown to illustrate the influence and impact the research undertaken has had on the original concepts and the design.

This paper proposes to focus on the design, implementation and evaluation of an on-line test facility built into the authorable Web-based Interactive Language Learning environment developed at London Guildhall University. On the basis of a principled, user-centred approach to design, it will pay particular attention to the importance of user requirements when making design decisions whilst focusing on the inevitability of design trade-offs within the design process. Ultimately, it will strive to show that complementary solutions can provide a satisfactory design answer to conflicting mental models.

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This paper presents conceptual considerations underpinning a design process set up to develop an applicable and usable interface as well as defining parameters for a new and versatile Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) environment. Based on a multidisciplinary expertise combining Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Web-based Java programming, CALL authoring and language teaching expertise, it strives to generate new CALL-enhanced curriculum developments in language learning. The originality of the approach rests on its design rationale established on the strength of previously identified student requirements and authoring needs identifying inherent design weaknesses and interactive limitations of existing hypermedia CALL applications (Hémard, 1998). At the student level, the emphasis is placed on three important design decisions related to the design of the interface, student interaction and usability. Thus, particular attention is given to design considerations focusing on the need to (a) develop a readily recognizable, professionally robust and intuitive interface, (b) provide a student-controlled navigational space based on a mixed learning environment approach, and (c) promote a flexible, network-based, access mode reconciling classroom with open access exploitations. At the author level, design considerations are essentially orientated towards adaptability and flexibility with the integration of authoring facilities, requiring no specific authoring skills, to cater for and support the need for a flexible approach adaptable to specific language-learning environments. This paper elaborates on these conceptual considerations within the design process with particular emphasis on the adopted principled methodology and resulting design decisions and solutions.

We will argue that CALL can usefully be viewed as a subset of computer software engineering and can profit from adopting some of the recent progress in software development theory. The unified modelling language has become the industry standard modelling technique and the accompanying unified process is rapidly gaining acceptance. The manner in which these can be used as a design aid will be demonstrated using, as a concrete example, the London Metropolitan University 'Interactive language learning' authoring package. We will show how, by applying such formal techniques, existing functionality has been improved and new functionality has been developed. This approach can lead to a greater understanding between the developer and the user, both student and teacher, as well as helping to bridge the gap between the second language acquisition expert and the software developer to the benefit of both. This development process has led us to believe that CALL, as the most advanced of the computer aided learning disciplines can also make a valid contribution to more general computer science in areas of interface design, evaluation and requirements analysis. Modern computer science is dominated by the 'business model'. We argue that CALL can offer an approach which is driven by both pedagogy and research and which offers what we might call a 'public service model' but which we will call 'process model' for the sake of political neutrality. A case study will explain how these ideas have been applied in practical development of our authoring package and on-line course material. In particular, we show how the use of Java Server technology has provided tracking and improved online assessment.