Edited by Karina Veronica Molsing, Cristina Becker Lopes Perna and Ana Maria Tramunt Ibaños
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 24] 2020
► pp. 231–258
Despite increasing need for on-demand, autonomous language learning, difficult technical issues render this approach insufficient without a human in the loop (e.g., blended learning). In this chapter, we discuss how recent advances in human language technology (HLT), cognitive science, and second language acquisition (SLA) combined can address seemingly intractable problems (e.g., intelligent feedback on error). We introduce an HLT-enabled adaptive language learning platform and examine the results from a pilot study in which English native speakers highly proficient in Spanish as a second language used the platform to learn Portuguese as a third language. Such “conversion” training from Spanish to Portuguese provides an ideal testbed for these innovative HLT and SLA ideas.