Third Generation Telephony : New Technological Support for Computer Assisted Language Learning

The cxpansion of tlie lnternet has Icd to the developn~ent of distance teaching models based on thc net (c-learning). Onc oí'tlie crucial factors in this phenonienon is the continuous training requircd by workers to niaintain or inlprove their professional skills. Foreign languages are, without doubt, one of tlie niosi in deniand subjects. This is because they are needed for coniiuunicaiion in an increasingly globalized world. Thc devclopnicnt of ncw wirelcss communication technologies, UMTS or 3G nets, and thcir corrcsponding access terminals (Palm-size PCs, PPCs, with wireless telephone connection. also called smart-pliones). will enablc solutions to be found for some of the problems Iaccd hy curreiit e-learning uscrs. Tlicse problcnis include access speed and the physical constraints of tlic (crn~inal. Thc new wircless conimunication technologies will bring other benelits likc portability. always on-line, etc. Tliis articlc prcsents one oí' tlic world's first prototypes of language learning software ior sniart-phoncs, produccd by tlie Laboratorio de lngcnicria Didactica e lngenieria Linguistica of UNED (Didactic Engineering and Linguistic Engineering Laboratory) (LIDIL, littp://www.vip.~ined.es). i¿le-Enl<EDondo.cotn is an lnternet based niultimedia application dcsigncd ior 3G iiiobile plioncs witli audio, video and interactive exercises for learning Spanisli for business.