Corpora as expert knowledge domains: The Oxford advanced learner's dictionary

Abstract

This paper rehearses the parameters that are needed when designing an expert system for Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), namely:

• 1. expert knowledge: procedural knowledge and domain knowledge

• 2. student competence model

• 3. student's ultimate goal

• 4. student's current goal

It then goes on to examine the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD) as an expert knowledge domain for CALL. It looks in detail at exercises that can be generated to improve:

• 1. clause level skills, both lexical (e.g. word usage, specialist vocabulary, and idioms) and syntactical (use of articles and verbs)

• 2. discourse skills.

Next, the paper contrasts briefly how the OALD as an expert knowledge domain compares with the Susanne Corpus (a collection of texts which are fully syntactically annotated) and suggests how the OALD might be improved to render the knowledge in it more accessible for the automatic generation of language exercises that are commensurate with the ability and goals of an individual student. Finally, it summarises how corpora fit into an intelligent tutoring system for CALL.