Computer-assisted Grammar Practice for Oral Communication

Gaining the ability to speak proficiently is an important goal in second language learning, and grammatical correctness is an important dimension of oral proficiency. To acquire the ability to produce grammatically correct speech in everyday conversational situations, learners must practice producing speech until they can do so with little to no concious effort. For maximum pedagogical effectiveness, practice exercises should challenge learners to produce spoken output and provide corrective feedback (CF) on their productions so that learners may notice and correct their mistakes. In this paper, we survey the field of Intelligent Computerassisted Language Learning (ICALL) to examine the extent to which current offerings meet the pedagogical requirements for training grammatical accuracy in oral communication. Our analysis shows that few grammarfocused systems support oral practice, and that systems which do offer oral practice tend to train conversational fluency. In response to these findings, we present our position that grammar accuracy should be addressed in ICALL systems and that, in spite of technological limitations, it is possible to deploy speech technology in ICALL systems to support spoken interaction and allow individualized oral grammar practice and feedback.