| April 2010 Volume 6 Issue 1
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Title
Electronic Syllabus Design for Language & Computers:
Bridging the Gap Between Two Disciplines Using Moodle as a Learning Management System (LMS)
Author
Afnan H. Fatani
King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Biodata
Afnan Fatani is an Associate Professor of linguistics in the department of European Languages & Literature, King-Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She received her PhD from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and is an editor of the King Abdul-Aziz University Journal of Arts & Humanities. Her research interests include phonetics & phonology, translation technology, Arabic linguistics and the language of the Quran. ahfatani@kau.edu.sa
Abstract
In the past decade, the widening use of computers has had a profound influence on the design and structure of the linguistics curricula. Because the internet has now become the main resource for linguists, academic institutions have deemed it necessary to integrate into the linguistics curriculum courses that are geared to identification and use of various online linguistic resources and software. However, instructors have found it difficult to identify the basic components or topics that should be incorporated into the standard Language and Computer course. The purpose of this study is twofold: first to outline the core contents of a Language and Computer course; and second, to demonstrate how to convert the delivery of this content from face-to-face to online or blended delivery using Moodle asa Learning Management System (LMS). This study investigates the basic steps to structuring an online Language and Computers course and identifies the technology that provides a meaningful learning environment. It is basically a study in electronic syllabus design that is aimed at bridging the gap between Language & Computers and Computational
Linguistics by integrating components of both disciplines into a new hybrid course that involves the acquisition of basic computational expertise as well as mastery of
software programs for analyzing natural language. An outline of the course is provided and a detailed discussion of the methods of implementing and designing its
electronic syllabus, with some speculation on the computational and linguistic outcomes of combining both disciplines.
Key words: Language & Computers, Moodle, Learning Management Systems (LMS),
Computational Linguistics, Blended Delivery
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