Artificial Intelligence and its Applications

VP 2 : the role of user modelling in correcting errors in second language learning

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This paper describes a system, VP2, that has been implemented to tutor non-native speakers in English. The system applies Artificial Intelligence techniques developed in Natural Language research. In particular, it differs from standard approaches by employing a model of its users to customize instruction based on knowledge of the student's native language. The system focuses on the acquisition of English verb-particle and verb-prepositional phrase constructions. It diagnoses errors that students make due to interference of their native language. VP2 recognizes syntactic variation in English sentences, allowing freer translation. VP2 is a modular system: its model of a user's native language can easily be replaced by a model of another language. Its correction strategy is based upon a comparison of the native language model with a model of English. The problems and solutions presented in this paper are related to the more general question of how modeling previous knowledge facilitates instruction in a new skill.


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natural language processing

InBook

Wiley

A. G. Cohen and J. R. Thomas

This paper is a revised version of Schuster, Ethel and Tim Finin, VP2: The Role of User Modeling in Correcting Errors in Second Language Learning, Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behavior (AISB), April 1985.

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