Author Languages, Authoring Systems, and Their Relation to the Changing Focus of Computer-Aided Language Learning

Abstract The performance of Computer-Aided Language Learning (“CALL”) to date has been hampered by a lack of programming and software engineering expertise on the part of the language teachers who have become interested in developing CALL. Of the various computer-based software to aid the authoring process, author languages, author programs and author environments are presenting an increasing range of options for the language teacher who is not an expert programmer. However, these software tools are themselves not without limitations. A proper understanding of their actual and potential contribution to CALL serves to define more closely some of the current problems of CALL, and to plot its future development.