Department of Language Studies
Interactive Language Learning
The Authoring System
Interactive Language Learning - Authoring Software ________________________________3
Requirements _____________________________________________________________________4
Authoring ________________________________________________________________________4
Tutorial __________________________________________________________________________5
Troubleshooting ___________________________________________________________________8
Deployment ______________________________________________________________________10
Verb Table ______________________________________________________________________11
Fill the gaps______________________________________________________________________12
Translate a word or short phrase ____________________________________________________14
Several definitions of a word or phrase _______________________________________________15
Two alternatives to fill a gap ________________________________________________________17
Multiple choice questions __________________________________________________________18
An alternative method ___________________________________________________________________ 18
Multiple Choice Gap fill ___________________________________________________________19
Identify types of word. _____________________________________________________________20
Find the errors ___________________________________________________________________21
Composite Exercise _______________________________________________________________22
Text Jumbler ____________________________________________________________________24
Link the Phrases__________________________________________________________________25
Add Footnotes ___________________________________________________________________26
Create a Home Page ______________________________________________________________27
Contact _________________________________________________________________________28
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Interactive Language Learning - Authoring Software
This authoring software is designed to make it possible for any teacher to easily author their own
interactive web-based CALL exercises.
There are currently 12 different types of exercise
Verb Table
Fill the gaps
Translate a word or short phrase
Several definitions of a word or phrase
Two alternatives to fill a gap
Multiple Choice Questions
Multiple choice gap fill
Identify types of words
Find the Errors
A Composite Exercise
Text jumber
Link the phrases
and two HTML authoring facilities
Footnote writer
Home Page Author
The CD contains the following elements:
A self-contained authoring programme capable of writing interactive CALL exercises
and saving all the necessary files which can then be transferred onto a server, saved onto
a hard drive or saved onto a transportable medium such as a CD-ROM or floppy disk.
This is installed onto your hard drive by running install.exe on the CD-ROM. To
start the program, run author.exe which will have been installed by default in a
directory called C:\author\.
A help package in HTML which can run either in a browser or in the software's internal
help system. This is installed onto your hard drive at the same time as the main
application. It is essentially the same text as that contained in this printed manual with an
interactive example of each type of exercise. Start from help.htm
Having installed the software, it is recommended that you first create a gapfill exercise following
the Easy-start tutorial on page 4 of this manual or in "tutorial.htm" in the "tutorial"
directory that will be installed on your hard drive.
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Requirements
The software is based on JAVA 1.1 and HTML. To run it you will require a computer which
runs a Web Browser that is compatible with JAVA 1.1. We recommend that you use the
Netscape Communicator 4.5 or later, which may be downloaded from
http://home.netscape.com/download/index.html. Alternatively you may use
the Microsoft Internet Explorer 5, although version 4 will work. Earlier versions of these
browsers will not work. The software has only been tested on browsers running in a Windows
environment.
The authoring system has been created as a Java stand-alone application and will only run on
Windows 95/NT and later. At the present moment, there is no Mac version of the software.
Authoring
The authoring procedure depends on the text being prepared in a suitable fashion, with the
answers being included in a form which can be recognised by the computer. The text can be
prepared beforehand and then pasted onto the screen of the appropriate authoring tool.
Alternatively, most of the authoring tools have a facility which enables the text to be prepared on
the screen.
For further details, see the specific exercise instructions below. There is a tutorial ("tutorial.htm"
in the "tutorial" directory) to help you get started with the Gap Filling exercise.
The necessary files are generated by means of the menu option "Save and Preview" from the
"File" menu. If a heading or list of options is required, cut and paste them into the appropriate
dialog box when it appears. When you wish to save your work, you use the "Save and Preview"
menu item in the "File" menu. You will be asked to set a heading which should be an instruction
that will subsequently appear above the exercise each time it appears on the screen. The student
should start from the web page that you have named. The other files and folders that will appear
in the same directory are necessary for the operation of the exercise and should be ignored. You
will find, amongst the saved files, one with the same title as you have chosen, but with the ".txt"
suffix. This contains the final text as it appeared on the screen, formatted as above. This may be
used for further editing. Some of the authoring tools have an "Open" facility in the "File" menu
which will open such a text file and place its contents on the screen.
It is necessary to choose your language before starting the authoring process. Summon the
authoring tool you require by pressing one of the buttons on the right hand side of the main
menu.
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Tutorial
This is best viewed in a standard browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer rather
than in the application's internal help facility as you will then be able to copy and paste
examples from the text onto the screen of the authoring tool.
Gap filling exercises are probably the most common variety of interactive exercise. Follow the
instructions step by step to author a series of exercises and this will then give a good idea how
the system works and the procedure may be adapted to the other styles of exercise. Each
authoring tool has a help facility, which is also available from the main menu.
1. Start the application by running "Author.exe".
2. Choose a language from amongst the radio buttons on the top row above the buttons. For
the purposes of this exercise, choose Spanish.
3. Click on the button entitled "Fill the Gaps". A new screen will appear which is to be used
to edit the text into the appropriate form for conversion to the exercises.
4. Copy this piece of text
Alejandra es española, tiene 26 años y está soltera. Alejandra es diseñadora de modas y
es de Madrid.
Cintia es francesa, tiene 24 años y está casada, no tiene hijos es profesora y vive en Paris.
Hector es guatemelteco tiene 30 años y está soltero es estudiante de Comercio
Internacional y vive en Londres.
5. Paste it onto the screen in the "Fill the Gaps" program using the menu "Edit->Paste all".
6. In the text above, certain verbs are in italics. These are the words that it is intended that
the student should type in. One by one, highlight these words and then go to the menu
item "Edit->Insert a blank space". Each time you do this, the word will be formatted like
this: (***\es). This tells the machine that, when it is producing the interactive web pages,
this word is one of the question words and that the student is to be shown some stars to
indicate missing letters and that the student is required to type in the word.
7. Your screen should now look like this:
Alejandra (***\es) española, tiene 26 años y (*****\está) soltera. Alejandra (***\es)
diseñadora de modas y (***\es) de Madrid.
Cintia (***\es) francesa, tiene 24 años y (*****\está) casada, no tiene hijos (***\es)
profesora y vive en Paris.
Hector (***\es) guatemelteco tiene 30 años y (*****\está) soltero es estudiante de
Comercio Internacional y vive en Londres.
8. Now save your work by using the Menu item "File->Save and Preview".
9. A dialog box will appear entitled "Set the heading". Type or paste the following
instruction onto the small text area in the dialog box. : Fill the gaps in the following
sentences.
10. Tick the box which says "If the exercises are to be shown as a numbered list rather than
continuous text, tick here". (When you come to do your own exercises, do not have a
numbered list with more than 5 lines or it will not fit on the page, divide your questions
5
into groups of 5 or less.)
11. Press "OK"
12. Use the "Save" dialog box to save your work. Give the file the title "test.htm" and save it
in a folder called "C:\Test" (or anywhere else you please).
13. A Preview screen should now appear which will show you roughly what the exercise will
look like. It should display the interactivity that the pages will display in a normal
browser. Try it out by clicking on the "Start the Exercise" hypertext link.
14. Use your browser, which must be either Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or 5, or else
Netscape 4.5 or later, to open the file you have just saved "C:\Test\test.htm" and try out
the exercise. Ignore all the other files that will have been added to the "C:\Test" directory
as they are all necessary for the operation of the exercise. If you wish to copy the exercise
to another directory, you must transfer all these additional files and subfolders as well.
15. When you have finished the exercise, the "Next" hyperlink on the last page will try to
take the student to a page called "home.htm" in the "C:\Test" directory. Use any HTML
editor (the latest versions of Word for Windows has this facility") to create a page called
"home.htm" in this directory and place hypertext links on to the exercise files you create
(in this case to "test.htm").
16. If you wish to return to further edit your work at a later date, you may use the Menu item
"File->Open". The previously formatted text from the screen will have been saved in a
file called "C:\Test\test.txt" and selecting this file from the Open dialog box will set its
contents onto the screen.
17. Now try another example using a piece of your own text and, instead of giving the
student a gap to fill, give them the infinitive of the verb and require them to type in the
correct form.
18. First highlight a verb in the text (in its correct form) and then use the Menu item "Edit->
Insert alternative word(s)".
19. A dialog box appears asking you to insert an alternative word. Type in the infinitive of
the verb and press OK.
20. Something like this should appear on the screen: (ser\es).
21. Then continue as above, saving your work in "C:\Test" as "test2.htm".
22. Having now made two exercises, link them together on a "home page".
23. Click the button "Create a Home Page" from the main menu. (You can have several of
the authoring tools active at once, move between them using the buttons that the
"Windows" environment places on the bottom of your computer screen).
24. Click the "Insert a hypertext link" from the "Insert" menu.
25. A dialog box will appear asking you to "Type or paste the hyperlink phrase". Type in
"Gapfill exercise 1" and click "OK".
26. Another dialog box then appears saying "LINK - All the linked files should be in the
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same directory". Go to the directory where you have saved the exercises (in our case this
is "C:\Test"), click on "test.htm" and check that it comes up in the little box at the bottom
of the dialog. Click "Open".
27. On the left hand side of your screen, under a heading "List of hypertext links" you will
see "Gapfill exercise 1", and on the right, under a heading "List of web pages" you will
see "test.htm".
28. Click the "Insert a Hypertext Link" button and repeat the exercise for "test2.htm". All the
files must be in the same directory or the links will not work.
29. Save your work using the "Save and Preview" menu item from the "File" menu. A dialog
box will appear entitled "Give your home page a heading". Type or paste the following
instruction onto the text area in the dialog box. : "A set of test exercises".
30. By default the "Save as" dialog box will save the file as "home.htm". Do not change from
this unless you have a good reason as the exercises all return to a page called
"home.htm". Make sure that you are going to save the file in the same directory (eg
"C:\Test\") or else the links will not work.
31. Click "Save".
32. Use your browser, which must be either the Sun HotJava Browser 3 (recommended),
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or 5, or else Netscape 4.5 or later, to open the file you have
just saved ("C:\Test\home.htm") and follow the links to your exercises. If you wish to
format your home page differently, use your favourite HTML editor.
33. Now experiment with the other types of exercise which work on a similar principle. Each
exercise has a "Help" facility.
7
Troubleshooting
The interactive exercises do not work
Are you using a Java 1.1 enabled browser ? See requirements.
The interactive exercises do not work with Microsoft Internet Explorer
You must use version 4 or later, check the version by clicking on the "About" menu item
from the "Help" menu. At the time of writing, the latest version may be downloaded from
: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/download/intlsite.htm
When Microsoft Internet Explorer is installed, did you check the option to install the
"Java Virtual Machine". Try reinstalling Internet Explorer and selecting "Custom
installation" and then "Selecting" the option that indicates that the Virtual Machine will
be installed. The exact terms will vary between the versions of Internet Explorer.
The interactive exercises do not work with Netscape Communicator
You must use version 4.5 or later, check the version by clicking on the "About
Communicator" menu item from the "Help" menu. At the time of writing, the latest
version may be downloaded from :
http://home.netscape.com/download/index.html
Depending on how it was setup, Netscape may have been installed with security
restrictions that forbid the running of Java applets, consult your network administrator.
Again, depending on how it was setup, Netscape may may not run the Java applets
necessary for the interactive exercises if you started Netscape from "Explorer" or "My
Computer" by double clicking on the icon for the HTML file you have just created.
Typically this may occur if Netscape is your default browser. Open the HTML page by
using the menu item "File->Open Page" and then clicking on "Choose File".
There is an error message saying "Please check that the formatting is correct".
The authoring system works by recognizing brackets and slashes '(', '\' and ')'. If there
are extra brackets or slashes, the program becomes confused and looks for characters that
are not there. Verify that the number and order of these brackets and slashes are in the
form specified in the "Help" documentation. In particular, check that there were no
brackets or slashes in the original text. Square brackets and backslashes are OK '[','/'
and ']'.
An error message saying "Can't find the file" appears when trying to open a previously
saved exercise.
Either you have typed in the name of a file that does not exist or you have moved a set of
files without moving all the files that originally accompanied it. In this latter case, there
should be a file with the extension ".vec".
Some of the text disappears from the screen.
When you save some exercises, you are presented with a box inviting you to insert a
heading that will give the students instructions on how to complete the task. You will
have the opportunity to choose whether to have the exercises displayed as a numbered list
of discrete exercises or as continuous text. This choice is registered via a check box
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entitled "If the exercises are to be shown as a numbered list rather than continuous text,
tick this box." If the box is checked, the program divides the text into lines, if not it
divides the text into sentences. When the "Numbered list" option is chosen, the
subsequent exercises show all the previous answers to questions in the group so that the
student can profit from their example when trying the next question. There is a practical
limitation of about 5 questions, before the screen becomes too full and text is lost, so it is
best to limit each group of numbered exercises to this number. If you wish two or more
sentences to appear on the screen at the same time, for instance in a dialogue, you must
choose this option. The "Continuous text" option only displays one sentence at a time,
merely displaying the previous sentence when necessary to illustrate the correct answer.
This gives less feedback but enables longer and more complex examples to be used. It is
worth experimenting with both approaches ti see which works best in a particular case.
For any other problems with, or suggestions for improvements to, the authoring
package itself, e-mail: cushion@lgu.ac.uk. Outside of holiday periods, we should be
able to reply within 2 working days, but in any event we will reply ASAP.
9
Deployment
It is normally best to create a group of exercises that relate to the same topic or lesson in a new
directory and then use the "Create a home page" facility to link them all together. All of the
exercises are designed so that, when the student finishes the exercise and click on "Next" or
abandons the exercise halfway through by clicking on "Quit", they will be returned to a page
called "home.htm" in the same directory as the page which starts the exercise is contained.
The web page that you have named and which introduces the exercise will be accompanied by
another directory of the same name which will contain all the files necessary to run the
interactive exercise. Please do not interfere with this directory.
When you have created all the exercises you wish in a particular directory, this whole directory
should be kept together and deployed as a single unit with a single point of access: "home.htm".
The web pages you have created can be deployed:
1. On the Internet or an internal network, just copy the complete directory and give it to
your system administrator or webmaster, requesting that he or she use "home.htm" as the
link into the section.
2. Copy the directory onto a CD-ROM or Floppy disk and distribute it to be copied onto the
hard drive of the PC on which it is intended for use. The students should gain access to
the material via "home.htm"
10
Verb Table
The exercise
This exercise requires the student to fill in the six "persons" of a verb after being given the
infinitive. If it is done correctly, the student moves on to the next verb. If one or more errors are
made, the correct answer is given in red next to the appropriate box and the student is expected
to type the correct version before continuing. If the student wishes to start at a position other than
at the beginning, there is a list box giving the choice of starting point.
At the same time, a reference verb table is produced of the same verbs.
Authoring
Type or paste the infinitive of the verb (followed by the definition if required), followed by the
verb forms for six persons, all separated by commas, each verb on a new line.
Save your work as an ".htm" file using the "Save and Preview" menu item from the "File" menu.
View your work on the "Preview" screen that should appear automatically.
The exercise and the verb table may be accessed via hypertext links from the filename you used.
If you wish to edit this exercise at a later date, use the "Open" menu item to open a text file with
the same name as the HTML file you have just saved, but with a ".txt" ending. This may be
found in the same directory in which you saved the HTML file.
A practical example
The following text may be used as an example.
lernen - to learn, lerne, lernst, lernt, lernen, lernt, lernen,
sein - to be, bin, bist, is, sind, seid, sind,
haben - to have, habe, hast, hat, haben, habt, haben,
or else
être - to be,suis,es,est,sommes,êtes,sont,
avoir - to have,ai,as,a,avons,avez,ont,
habiter - to live in,habite,habites,habite,habitons,habitez,habitent,
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Fill the gaps
The exercise
Exercises may be created which require the student to type in the correct form of a word or
phrase. They will be offered a sentence with either missing word(s) or the infinitive of a verb or
the English word to be translated or anything similar that the teacher wishes. When they have
typed in their attempt, it is compared with the answer and if it is correct, they can move on.
Other wise they get a clue and another attempt. If they fail again, they are given the answer but
are required to type it in before they move on.
Authoring
Place brackets around the word or phrase to be removed and, within the brackets, precede this
with the question word and then a "\".
You can either prepare the text in this way in advance or edit it on the screen. If you wish to edit
it on screen, highlight the word that forms the basis of the question in the original text and press
the "Insert alternative word" menu item in the edit "Menu". A dialog box will ask you to specify
the alternative word (ie the "clue"). It will then insert it on the screen surrounded by brackets as
described above.
If you merely wish to give the student a gap to fill, highlight the word and press the menu item
"Edit->Insert a blank space". This will surround the word with brackets as described above but
instead of an alternative word, will insert a number of stars to indicate missing letters.
Repeat until satisfied then press menu "File->Save and Preview". You will be asked to set a
heading which should be an instruction that will subsequently appear above the exercise each
time it appears on the screen. If you wish your exercises to appear as a numbered list of distinct
phrases, place them on the screen in separate lines and check the box that says that they will
appear as a numbered list. Do not have a numbered list with more than 5 exercises or it will not
fit on the page, divide your questions into groups of 5 or less.
Save your work as an ".htm" file using the "Save" menu item from the "File" menu.
View your work on the "Preview" screen that should appear automatically.
If you wish to edit this exercise at a later date, use the "Open" menu item to open a text file with
the same name as the HTML file you have just saved, but with a ".txt" ending. This may be
found in the same directory in which you saved the HTML file.
The student should start from the web page that you have named.
To give an example:
The quick brown (animal\fox) jumped over the lazy dog.
This will give the question in the form
The quick brown (animal) jumped over the lazy dog.
and an answer in the form
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
The student will be required to type " fox" in the dialogue box in the exercise.
If a blank is required, use the form ( ___ \fox) or (****\fox), rather than a string of ... to indicate
gap as the program will confuse these .... as full stop sentence endings.
You should complete the whole text for the exercise in this manner. You may use as many
(question\answer) examples as you wish and each one will become another question.
If you wish to format any part of the text, use the standard HTML tags.
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Please include any instructions that you wish the student to see at the beginning.
A practical example
The following text may be used as an example.
Fill the Gaps
Wo sind die Kinder? In der Schule. (***\Sie) lernen Englisch.
Das Buch ist teuer. (**\Es) kostet DM58.
Wann kommt Frau Meier? (***\Sie) kommt morgen Mittag.
Arbeitet Anna? Nein, (***\sie) ist Studentin.
Ist das Helmuts Hund? Ja, (**\er) bellt jeden Morgen.
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Translate a word or short phrase
The exercise
Exercises may be created which require the student to type in the translation of a word or phrase.
They will be offered a word or phase to translate. When they have typed in their attempt, it is
compared with the answer and if it is correct, they can move on. Other wise they get a clue and
another attempt. If they fail again, they are given the answer but are required to type it in before
they move on.
Be careful not to ask the student to translate something ambiguous or a phrase that could have
more than one correct answer.
Authoring
First type the word or phrase to be translated, then a "\" and then the translation. If you wish your
exercises to appear as a numbered list of distinct phrases, place them on the screen in separate
lines and check the box that says that they will appear as a numbered list.
Repeat until satisfied then press menu "File->Save and Preview". You will be asked to set a
heading which should be an instruction that will subsequently appear above the exercise each
time it appears on the screen.
The student should start from the web page that you have named. The other files and folders that
will appear in the same directory are necessary for the operation of the exercise and should be
ignored.
If you wish to format any part of the text, use the standard HTML tags.
A practical example
The following text may be used as an example.
My age\Mon âge
My birthday\Mon anniversaire
An address\Une adresse
An American woman\Une Américaine
Your first name\Ton prénom
My surname\Mon nom
A number\Un numéro
Cheers\Salut
Hello\Bonjour
Good evening\Bonsoir
Good night\Bonne nuit
Good-bye\Au revoir
Sir\Monsieur
Madam\Madame
Miss\Mademoiselle
with a title : Translate the following into French
14
Several definitions of a word or phrase
The exercise
The student is shown a sentence with a word or words highlighted and required to choose from a
list of up to 12 characteristics of that word, eg "Subject", "Verb", "Direct object" etc. The student
will be presented with a series of radio buttons to make their choice.
Authoring
Type or paste the titles for the radio buttons, each on a separate line, onto the screen of the
dialog box which will appear when you open the authoring tool .
Place brackets around the position of the word or phrase in question and, within the brackets,
type a "\" and then type the number of the choice from the list of possibilities..
You can either prepare the text in this way in advance or edit it on the screen. If you wish to edit
it on screen, highlight the word that forms the basis of the question in the original text and press
the "Insert number" menu item in the "Edit" menu. A dialog box will appear with a list box
containing the options specified earlier. Choose the appropriate one and click "OK". The text on
screen will be formatted in the manner described above. Then "Save" in the normal manner.
Repeat until satisfied then press menu "File->Save and Preview". You will be asked to set a
heading which should be an instruction that will subsequently appear above the exercise each
time it appears on the screen. If you wish you exercises to appear as a numbered list of distinct
phrases, place them on the screen in separate lines and check the box that says that they will
appear as a numbered list. Do not have a numbered list with more than 5 exercises or it will not
fit on the page.
View your work on the "Preview" screen that should appear automatically.
If you wish to edit this exercise at a later date, use the "Open" menu item to open a text file with
the same name as the HTML file you have just saved, but with a ".txt" ending. This may be
found in the same directory in which you saved the HTML file.
The student should start from the web page that you have named.
To give an example:
The choices could be:
Subject
Verb
Object
and the sentence to make a question would be in the following form:
The quick brown (fox\1) jumped over the lazy dog.
This will give the question in the form
The quick brown (fox) jumped over the lazy dog.
and the expected correct answer will be to click the Subject radio button
The student will be required to choose between Subject, Verb and Object.
You should complete the whole text for the exercise in this manner. You may use as many
(word\number) examples as you wish and each one will become another question.
If you wish to format any part of the text, use the standard HTML tags.
15
A practical example
The following text may be used as an example.
Something like this could serve as the heading giving the instruction.
For each of the words or phrases in red, select the option from the list below that correctly
describes its role in the sentence.
These could serve as options for the radio buttons:
subject
verb
direct object
indirect object
This is how the text should be prepared.
(Colin\1) (terminait\2) (sa toilette\3). (Il\1) (s\3)'(était enveloppé\2), au sortir du bain, d'(une
ample serviette\4), dont (seuls ses jambes et son torse\1) (dépassaient\2).
16
Two alternatives to fill a gap
The exercise
The student is required to choose between two alternative versions for the replacement of a word
that is missing from the text. They make their selection by means of a standard Windows "radio
button".
Authoring
Place brackets around the word or phrase in question and, within the brackets, type the correct
word or phrase, then a "\" and finally the incorrect word or phrase.
You can either prepare the text in this way in advance or edit it on the screen. If you wish to edit
it on screen, highlight the word that forms the basis of the question in the original text and press
the "Insert alternative word" menu item in the edit "Menu". A dialog box will ask you to specify
the alternative word (ie the wrong word). It will then insert it on the screen surrounded by
brackets as described above.
Repeat until satisfied then press menu "File->Save and Preview". You will be asked to set a
heading which should be an instruction that will subsequently appear above the exercise each
time it appears on the screen. If you wish you exercises to appear as a numbered list of distinct
phrases, place them on the screen in separate lines and check the box that says that they will
appear as a numbered list.
Do not have a numbered list with more than 5 exercises or it will not fit on the page, divide your
questions into groups of 5 or less.
View your work on the "Preview" screen that should appear automatically.
If you wish to edit this exercise at a later date, use the "Open" menu item to open a text file with
the same name as the HTML file you have just saved, but with a ".txt" ending. This may be
found in the same directory in which you saved the HTML file.
The student should start from the web page that you have named. The other files and folders that
will appear in the same directory are necessary for the operation of the exercise and should be
ignored.
To give an example:
The quick brown (fox\cat) jumped over the lazy dog.
This will give the question in the form
The quick brown (_____) jumped over the lazy dog.
and the expected correct answer will be
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
The student will be required to choose between fox and cat.
You should complete the whole text for the exercise in this manner. You may use as many
(correct\incorrect) examples as you wish and each one will become another question.
If you wish to format any part of the text, use the standard HTML tags.
A practical example
The following text may be used as an example.
Lorsque nous étions enfants, les Macdo (n'existaient pas\n'existait pas) encore.
Avant Jules Ferry, les parents (n'étaient pas\n'ont pas été) obligés d'envoyer leurs enfants à
l'école.
J'ai perdu mon ticket de métro quand j'(essayais\ai essayé) de remettre mes papiers dans mon sac.
with the following text as a heading:
Choose the correct form of the Imperfect tense
17
Multiple choice questions
Click on the menu item "Add a question" from the "Edit" menu
Type or paste your question in the dialog box and click "OK"
What was the date of the Battle of Hastings?
In the next dialog box to appear, type or paste the alternatives for the multiple choice, one
option on each line and then click "OK"
1927
1066
1385
55BC
Choose the correct alternative from the list in the next dialog box and click OK
You should see something like this on the screen:
What was the date of the Battle of Hastings?
(1927\1066\1385\55BC\2)
Repeat the procedure for as many questions as you wish.
Click on the menu item "Save and Preview" in the "File" menu
Type or paste a heading that you wish to appear above each question in the current set of
exercises and click "OK":
The Norman Conquest
Save your work in a separate directory using a name you will remember with a ".htm"
suffix
C:\history\hastings.htm
Preview what you have done by clicking on menu item "Preview" in the "File" menu
Repeat for other related exercises and save them in the same directory
If you wish to come back to an exercise to edit it later, click "Open" from the "File" menu
and choose the file with the same name as the one you wish to edit, but with a ".txt"
suffix rather than a ".htm" suffix
C:\history\hastings.txt
The screen will show the raw data for the exercise in this form and you can add or delete
questions (do not leave any blank rows):
What was the date of the Battle of Hastings? (1927\1066\1385\55BC\2)
An alternative method
Type a question
Type the alternative answers, each preceded by a tab
What was the date of the Paris Commune ?
1937
1871
878
1647
Repeat until you have done as many as required, with no gaps between the rows.
Click on "Format" in the "Edit" menu
For each set of alternatives, choose the correct answer from the list presented and click
"OK"
The screen will be reformatted in the style described above:
What was the date of the Paris Commune ? (1937\1871\878\1647\2)
Continue as above.
If you subsequently wish to add another question, reopen the set of exercises using
"Open" and then add more questions as above
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Multiple Choice Gap fill
The exercise
This is a variation on the gap fill exercise. The student is presented with a gap in a sentence and a
choice of several alternatives to fill the gap. They are required to choose the most suitable of the
alternatives to fill the gap.
How to prepare the exercise
Type or paste the text onto the screen.
Highlight the word or phrase to be removed
Click the "Select a Word or Phrase" item from the "Edit" menu.
The selected word or phrase will be suitably formatted on the screen and the word or
phrase will be added to the list of choices if it has not previously been chosen.
The formatted text takes this form :
The cat sat (on\3) the mat.
The quick brown fox jumped (over\1) the lazy dog.
The rain (in\2) Spain falls mainly (in\2) the plain.
It is important to note that words or phrases are added to the list of alternatives in the
order chosen. It is as well therefore to select them in a random order so that the answer is
not too obvious.
Click "Save and Preview" from the "File" menu.
Type or paste the heading which will give suitable instructions to the students
Choose the most suitable word to fill the gap
If the exercise consists of a group of discrete sentences, ensure that the box which says
"If the exercises are to be shown as a numbered list rather than continuous text, tick this
box." has been ticked. In this case, the exercise should consist of no more than 5
sentences to avoid scrolling. If the exercise consists of a piece of continuous text, make
sure that there is no tick in the box.
Click the "OK" button.
Save the file in a directory of your choice, giving it a distinct name that will facilitate
your finding it later. It should have a ".htm" suffix. If you do not insert this suffix, it will
be added automatically.
"C:\exercisefiles\exercise1.htm"
This file is the one from which the exercise starts, all others with related names should be
ignored as they are essential to the automatic running of the exercise.
View your work on the "Preview" screen that should appear automatically.
If you wish to reopen your work to edit it at a later date, click the "Open" item from the
"File" menu. Open the file with the same name as you have chosen, but with a ".txt"
suffix.
"C:\exercisefiles\exercise1.txt"
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Identify types of word.
The exercise
The exercise allows certain words or phrases to be tagged. The student is asked to identify a
number of words of this type, "Verbs in the present tense" for instance. When the cursor is
clicked over a word that is of the specified type, a message appears and the number of words
found so far is displayed. A false choice produces a different message and a repeated choice
produces a third message.
Authoring
Write the complete text and place brackets around those words or phrases that are required to
show positive when the user clicks over them with the cursor. The text may either be prepared in
advanced and pasted onto the screen or else may be edited on screen. Merely highlight each
word to be selected and press menu "Edit->Select a word or phrase". Brackets will be placed
around the selected text.
Repeat until satisfied then press menu "File->Save and Preview". You will be asked to set a
heading which should be an instruction that will subsequently appear above the exercise each
time it appears on the screen. Then "Save" in the normal manner.
The student should start from the web page that you have named. The other files and folders that
will appear in the same directory are necessary for the operation of the exercise and should be
ignored.
A practical example
The following text may be used as an example.
Nous sommes en 1552 à Istanbul, capitale de l'Empire (turc). L'ambassadeur d'Allemagne, qui
vient de rendre visite au sultan Soliman le Magnifique, aperçoit dans les jardins du palais de
Topkapi des fleurs (magnifiques), (inconnues) en Europe.
Ce sont des tulipes. Aussitôt, il veut en acheter mais le conseiller du sultan qui l'accompagne lui
répond que ce sont des fleurs très (rares) et qu'elles ne sont pas à vendre. L'ambassadeur insiste
et finit par obtenir à prix d'or quelques bulbes de la (fameuse) fleur.
Revenu dans son pays, l'ambassadeur plante les bulbes dans son jardin et, l'année (suivante), une
vingtaine de tulipes font l'admiration de ses visiteurs. La réputation de cette fleur (nouvelle) et
(extraordinaire) s'étend bientôt à tout le pays. Puis elle dépasse les frontières et arrive en
Hollande où la fleur, qui s'acclimate bien, devient un (véritable) phénomène de société.
Pendant ce temps, un commerce qui ressemble à celui d'un produit (précieux) s'est établi entre la
Turquie et l'Europe. Les Turcs vendent les bulbes en (petites) quantités et à des prix très (élevés).
Mais les commerçants (européens) savent que chez eux la demande est (énorme) et que, par
snobisme, des aristocrates et des bourgeois sont prêts à acheter à n'importe quel prix ces bulbes
(précieux).
A suitable heading might be:
Indicate the adjectives by clicking on them with the mouse cursor.
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Find the errors
The exercise
The student is required to correct errors in a piece of text.
Authoring
Provide two texts, one correct, the other containing errors. The errors should consist of spelling
mistakes in words. Both texts should contain the same number of words. Paste the correct text
onto the left-hand screen and the incorrect text onto the right-hand screen.
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Composite Exercise
The exercise
This exercise requires a student to choose from several options and then, when they have found
the correct option, they use that knowledge to successfully complete a gapfilling exercise. It is in
fact a composite of the "gapfilling" and the "choose between several options" exercises.
Authoring
Type or paste the titles for the radio buttons, each on a separate line, onto the screen of the
dialog box which will appear when you open the authoring tool, as in the "choose between
several options" exercise above.
Place brackets around the word or phrase to be removed and, within the brackets, precede this
with the question word and then a "\". It is also necessary to insert a number in the brackets
which corresponds to the option number for this question. Typically this would look like this
(***\2\answer).
You can either prepare the text in this way in advance or edit it on the screen. If you wish to edit
it on screen, highlight the word that forms the basis of the question in the original text and press
the "Insert an alternative word and choose an option" menu item in the "Edit" menu. A dialog
box will ask you to specify the alternative word (ie the "clue"). A second dialog box will then
appear with a list box containing the options specified earlier. Choose the appropriate one and
click "OK". The text on screen will be formatted in the manner described above.
If you do not wish to provide an alternative word as a clue, but merely wish the student to fill an
empty gap or blank space, highlight the word and press the menu item "Edit->Insert a blank
space". This will surround the word with brackets as described above but instead of an
alternative word, will insert a number of stars to indicate missing letters).
You should complete the whole text for the exercise in this manner. You may use as many
(question\number\answer) examples as you wish and each one will become another question.
Repeat until satisfied then press menu "File->Save and Preview". You will be asked to set a
heading which should be an instruction that will subsequently appear above the exercise each
time it appears on the screen. If you wish your exercises to appear as a numbered list of distinct
phrases, place them on the screen in separate lines and check the box that says that they will
appear as a numbered list. Do not have a numbered list with more than 5 exercises or it will not
fit on the page. The student should start from the web page that you have named. The other files
and folders that will appear in the same directory are necessary for the operation of the exercise
and should be ignored. Then "Save" in the normal manner.
If you wish to format any part of the text, use the standard HTML tags.
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A practical example
The following text may be used as an example.
Something like this could serve as the heading giving the instruction:
Dans la phrase suivante, donnez la valeur du verbe entre parenthèses et puis mettez ce
verbe au présent.
These could serve as options for the radio buttons
Le présent ponctuel
Le présent d'habitude ou de répétition
Le présent de durée
Le présent à valeur universelle
Le présent à valeur de passé récent
Le présent historique ou de narration
Le présent à valeur de futur
Le présent hypothétique.
This is how the text should be prepared.
Le téléphone (sonner\1\sonne), veux-tu répondre s'il te plaît?.
Ma grand-mère (aller\2\va) au marché le mercredi matin, quelque soit le temps.
Le cochon (avoir\4\a) la réputation d'être un bon nageur.
Attendez-moi ici. Je (revenir\7\reviens) tout de suite.
Pierre qui (rouler\4\roule) (ne pas amasser\4\n'amasse pas) mousse.
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Text Jumbler
The exercise
Words appear down one side of the page in a random order and need to be sorted into the correct
order. The student is required to click on each word in turn with the cursor and then click on one
of several boxes on the line above. If it is the correct box the word moves to the line above, if not
the student is encouraged to "Try again". The student can have as many goes as necessary.
Authoring
Paste the sentences on to the text screen. Press the menu item "Save and Preview". Give the file a
name. The words are automatically jumbled into a random order. View your work on the
"Preview" screen that should appear automatically.
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Link the Phrases
The exercise
Exercises may be created which require the student to link connected words or phrases by
clicking on a word or phrase on the left hand side of the page and then clicking on the
appropriate word or phrase on the right hand side of the page. If the phrases are linked, they will
both show the same colour background.
Authoring
Type or paste a series of linked phrases onto the screen, one pair per line. The two phrases
should be separated by a "\".
Do not use more than eight pairs.
Press menu "File->Save and Preview". You will be asked to set a heading which should be an
instruction that will subsequently appear above the exercise each time it appears on the screen.
The program automatically jumbles the phrases into a random order.
The student should start from the web page that you have named. The other files and folders that
will appear in the same directory are necessary for the operation of the exercise and should be
ignored.
A practical example
The following text may be used as an example.
¿Qué haces a las 11.00 María?\A las once lea una revista.
¿Qué haces a las 2.00 María?\A las dos baila.
¿Qué haces a la 1.00 María?\A la una toca el piano.
¿Qué haces a la 8.00 María?\A las ocho estudia matemáticas.
Qué haces a las 9.00 María?\A las nueve tiene clase de historia.
25
Add Footnotes
What it does:
You can make hypertext comments on a piece of text. The screen will be divided into two
windows (although you will not see a division on most browsers) and as you click on highlighted
text in the top window, comments, definitions etc. appear in the bottom.
Authoring
1. Type or paste the text onto the text area
2. Highlight the word you wish to comment and click "Add a Footnote".
3. Type or paste the footnote into the dialog box which will appear. Press "OK".
4. The word or phrase to which the footnote will apply will be surrounded by brackets and
the footnote will also appear inside the brackets after a '\'.
5. Repeat until satisfied and then click "Save and preview" from the "File menu".
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Create a Home Page
When you open the "Home Page Author", you are presented with a screen divided down the
middle, on the left you will find space for a list of hypertext links, on the right, the space for a
list of pages.
Click on the menu item "Insert a hypertext link" in the "Insert" menu. You will be asked to type
in the phrase that will serve as the hypertext link that will link the user to the next exercise. Fill
this in and press "OK".
You will then be presented with a file dialog box for you to select the HTML file to which the
link will be made. All the links must be to files in the same directory.
Repeat for the rest of the exercises you have created.
Click the "Save and Preview" item in the "File" menu.
Type or paste a heading.
Save the file as "home.htm" in the same directory.
View your work on the "Preview" screen that should appear automatically.
Use your browser, which must be either the Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or 5, or else Netscape
4.5 or later, to open the file you have just saved and follow the links to your exercises. If you
wish to format your home page differently, use your favourite HTML editor.
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Department of Language Studies
Contact
Further Details may be obtained from:
Steve Cushion & Dominique Hémard
Department of Language Studies
London Guildhall University
Calcutta House
Old Castle Street
London
E1 7NT
00 44 20 7320 1116
cushion@lgu.ac.uk or hemard@lgu.ac.uk
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