Languages for Specific Purposes in the Digital Era

Textbook Details: Language for Specific Purposes in the Digital Era Edited by Elena Barcena, Timothy Read and Jorge Arus, 348 pages, Published by Springer, ISBN 978-2-219-02221-5 As the book states at the beginning, “research on CALL applications aimed at the teaching and learning of LSPs is a thriving area within the field of linguistics” (p. 5), and we agree that due to the enormous development of technological tools and applications, an analyse of the current situation and knowledge gained up to now from a better perspective is required. It would also allow us to reflect on the best way to make technological teaching and research innovation. In a way, this is what the book aims to do. Despite of the wide range of different information covered in the book, it is clearly divided into four different parts, each of which comprising four chapters. The first part introduces some general issues about language learning and computing. The second part explains how language skills and therefore, linguistic competences, can be enhanced through computer-assisted experiences. The third part focuses on corpus-based applications for teaching and processing specific language domains. And finally, the fourth part deals with natural language processing. Its sixteen chapters are -in general- easy to read and clear, making it an understandable book for people without a deep knowledge of programming or computer science. In order to get a more in-depth understanding of the contents of the book, a more detailed overview is given for each chapter, analysing the outstanding premises from a critical perspective: Chapter 1 is an overview of the relationship between Information Technology and Languages for Specific Purposes identifying some areas of interest (Arno et al., 2006). This part is extremely interesting, since it sums up the changes brought about by the Bologna Process resulting in the new European Higher Education Area, presenting in a nutshell the options and challenges for the knowledge society and showing the Quantum LEAP Project as an example of how to take advantage of these opportunities. Chapter 2 introduces the InGenio online authoring shell, as a tool that overcomes the difficulties found by the teachers when creating online language learning materials. According to Blin’s statement (2005, p. 33), “language learning environments […] does not require the constant intervention of a teacher”, and being aware of the important role of independence in online learners, the authors provide some examples of initiatives that promote autonomy in the online learning process. Chapter 3 defends online blended learning -combining online and face to face work (Sharma, 2010) -, as exemplified by the eficacy of the I-AGENT Project, especially in the development of the foreign language learners’ oral skills. A classification of the different Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) is presented establishing the difference between Content Management Systems (CMS) and Learning Management Systems (LMS), such as Moodle, Blackboard and WebCT. Chapter 4 states how assessment is a specific phase within the whole language experience (p. 69), and must be taken into account in online language learning as well, as InGenio System does with two different modalities (tutor/selfassessment). Part 2 begins with the attractive chapter 5, which explains some of the requirements – the advantages were explained by Gasparetti et al. (2009, p. 287) – for specialized dictionaries as a pedagogical tool, and wonders if web-based systems are appropriate for educational environments considering some of their features. It concludes, interestingly, that “Internet pedagogical dictionaries are much more than electronic versions of printed dictionaries” (p. 103). Chapter 6 details two different university activities carried out in the context of Teaching Legal English using Moodle glossaries. This chapter outlines the importance of motivation in collaborative tasks among students which enhances the learning process, and such motivation may be reached through online writing (Breeze, 2005; Davoli et al.