Filoglossia+
Contents
1. Users have the option of seeing the right answers but additional responses or suggestions are not possible when students fail to provide the correct answer Because of the abundance of multimedia materials and the fact that almost all the ex ercises include audio capability this software accommodates both visual and audio learners The dialogues and overall style would appeal more to adults Linguistic Accuracy The program is grammatically sound as far as the Greek is concerned No typos or grammati cal errors were detected in the Greek a clear sign of the time and care invested in designing and executing the software Modern Greek is a highly in ectional language with a long his tory of development As a result several words especially verbs and nouns have over time acquired multiple grammatical forms The developers of Filoglossia have made the decision to introduce and consistently use certain grammatical forms the ones they consider most widely used Even if one disagrees with their particular choices their decision is pedagogically sound and wise for a program addressed to beginners The only inconsistency noticed was in the spelling of the word Both spellings of the form are used at different parts of the program and listed in the dictionary 145 CALICO Journal 25 1 Software Review Unlike the Greek the English translations are not always literal It appears that the developers have opted f2. gr provides a detailed description of the organization its goals and its various research endeavors The Filoglossia CALICO Journal 25 1 Software Review 138 suite is a series of four educational multimedia CD ROMs designed for beginners with little or no previous knowledge of Modern Greek The rst two CD ROMs are freely available online http www xanthi ilsp gr log The web version retains the majority of the pedagogical and design characteristics of the CD ROM series but includes only a subset of the material of the CD ROM version This review was based on the commercial CD ROM version 1 Summary of Features The Filoglossia program is based on the communicative approach and focuses on compre hension of both oral and written speech English translation is available throughout the pro gram but users are encouraged to use Greek in order to acquire communicative ef ciency Dialogues and exercises are based on everyday life situations The program is divided into twenty chapters ve on each disk Chapter One is an over view of the Greek alphabet gender de nite article and punctuation while Chapter Twenty is meant as a review Overall the program covers the basic functions of a typical rst year college modern Greek curriculum Each chapter consists of four main language sections Dia logue supported by video Vocabulary Basic and Additional Grammar and Useful Phrases all appearing at the bottom part of e
3. the user s drive has the auto run function this le can be accessed by right clicking on Properties Explore in the Windows menu Inexperienced users may not immediately realize the usefulness of the Re adMe le or know how to nd it It would be helpful to include a detailed user manual with the CD ROM Teacher Fit Approach The Filoglossia program is based on the communicative approach in which users learn to communicate effectively without thinking about the grammar Grammatical structures and syntactic functions are also treated in a communicative context The program reinforces com munication by offering students an opportunity to practice everyday speech Suf cient atten tion is paid to dialogue building sentence construction and contextual use of language The lessons and related activities are designed to develop all four language skills lis tening speaking reading and to a lesser extent writing Pronunciation and dialogue drills enable users to practice pronunciation listening and speaking while some grammar drills allow them to work with written forms Writing is for the most part limited to ll in the blank exercises This type of exercise provides learners with the opportunity to type what they hear and promotes acquisition of the written form of a word or expression There is however no dictation or meaningful composition for example writing a postcard leaving a note for a friend and so on or gr
4. 137 CALICO Journal 25 1 Software Review CALICO Journal 25 1 p p 137 146 2007 CALICO Journal Filoglossia Reviewed by MARIA PANTELIA University of California Irvine PRODUCT AT A GLANCE Product Type Interactive language learning software Language Greek Level Beginners Activities Dialogues dialogue repetition comprehension exercises recording facilities phonetic tran scription vocabulary reading and listening comprehension spelling and grammar exercises bilingual dictionary culture presentations Media Format CD ROM 4 Disks Operating Systems Windows 98 Me 2000 XP Hardware Requirements Pentium 200MHz 32 MB RAM 10 MB of hard disk space VGA video MPC compliant sound card with external microphone 16X CD ROM drive Documentation ReadMe les included in CD ROM directory help Menu in the program Price Single user copy 20 Euros US 35 00 per CD ROM 10 30 discount for multiple copy orders contact producer for details chapters 1 10 are available online free of charge at http www xanthi ilsp gr log GENERAL DESCRIPTION The program Filoglossia Love for Language was developed by the Institute for Language and Speech Processing ILSP a state funded research organization based in Athens Greece and operating since 1991 under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Development General Sec retariat of Research and Technology ILSP s website http www ilsp
5. 142 Useful phrases This section offers short dialogues on topics related to the particular situation covered in the chapter These dialogues point out variations due to grammar vocabulary or social context e g friendly vs formal Exercises Each section outlined above includes exercises aimed at reinforcing comprehension pronun ciation vocabulary spelling grammar and sentence formation Multimedia tools Recording facilities and other multimedia language tools are incorporated in the software For example users can record their voice and compare it to the pronunciation of a native speaker They can also see the phonetic transcription and listen to the pronunciation of any Greek word by voice synthesis The quality of the voice synthesis is acceptable but certainly not indistin guishable from a human voice The program has a fairly large but still circumscribed text basis which could have been recorded with real voice Dictionary The bilingual dictionary can be accessed at any point through the sidebar It contains the dic tionary form of all words used in Filoglossia the translation grammatical information and examples of use see Figure 4 Figure 4 Dictionary 143 CALICO Journal 25 1 Software Review Documentation online help printed materials The package contained no detailed user manual However a more detailed ReadMe le is in cluded in each CD ROM directory outlining the program and its use If
6. ach screen see Figure 1 Figure 1 Four Main Language Sections 139 CALICO Journal 25 1 Software Review A navigation bar at the top of the page allows users to access the main menu at any time view the contents of each chapter go back view the Help page which explains the vari ous buttons used and exit the program A sidebar of functional buttons is also offered enabling users to access important re sources such as the bilingual dictionary phonetic transcription microphone and exercises from any point in the program All sections include exercises aimed at reinforcing comprehension pronunciation vo cabulary spelling grammar and sentence formation Recording facilities and other multime dia language tools are incorporated in the software Users can look up any word appearing in the program in the bilingual Greek English dictionary and obtain the English translation as well as examples of use In addition each disk contains one or more short presentations on Greek paintings architecture music and so on meant to introduce users to various aspects of Greek culture see Figure 2 Figure 2 Various Aspects of Greek Culture CALICO Journal 25 1 Software Review 140 EVALUATION Technological Features The CD ROM version of Filoglossia is available for the PC platform only The program was tested on a Pentium 4 CPU 2 4GHz with 448MB RAM running Windows XP Each CD ROM comes with a jacket that includes
7. ammar drills that would allow users to work on their writing skills Prac tice of reading skills at the word and sentence level is indirectly achieved through working on most of the dialogues and drills In addition there are a good number of exercises that focus on vocabulary learning Grammar is given a less central focus as simply one component part of the instructional materials The program could be used in the classroom as a supplementary resource to improve listening comprehension and vocabulary acquisition Considering however that it is not com plementary to any standard Greek textbook series instructors may not be able to use it as a regular course resource The program is xed namely it cannot be modi ed by the instructor to t the needs of a particular class although instructors could assign particular sections and direct the students to pertinent materials Exercises are carefully crafted though response handling is minimal A correct answer is rewarded by a voice con rming that the answer was correct or by an instructor avatar who appears at the bottom of the page at the successful completion of a particular exercise Stu dents can repeat the exercises as many times as they wish and obtain a list with the correct answers by clicking on a Key button but there is no feedback or indication of the nature of the error Answer handling is restricted to exact string matching with no allowance for up per lower case accents punc
8. apress com Content_Of_Proceeding aspx ProceedingID 292 PRODUCER S CONTACT INFORMATION Institute for Language and Speech Processing Artemidos 6 amp Epidavrou 151 25 Paradisos Amarousiou Athens Greece Phone 30 210 6875 300 Fax 30 210 6854 270 Email support ilsp gr Web http www ilsp gr REVIEWER S BIODATA Maria Pantelia is Professor of Classics and Director of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae at the University of California Irvine REVIEWER S CONTACT INFORMATION Maria Pantelia TLG Project University of California Irvine 3450 Berkeley Place Irvine CA 92697 5550 Phone 949 824 7709 Fax 949 824 8434 Email mcpantel uci edu
9. h a short text which provides an outline of the story cov ered in each chapter e g asking for and giving directions at the post of ce The dialogue is repeated in video form English translation is always available and can be viewed side by side by clicking on the British ag button 141 CALICO Journal 25 1 Software Review Users can click on any of the words or sentences of the dialogue and listen to them A number of exercises e g match words true false ll in the gaps accompany each dialogue aimed at testing and reinforcing the comprehension of materials covered in the dialogue Vocabulary The vocabulary section is divided into basic and additional vocabulary In the basic vocabulary section users can listen to any yellow word of the dialogue text or the word in the context of the sentence in which it occurs Users can also record their voice and compare it to that of a native speaker Vocabulary exercises are also included for practice The additional vocabulary provides words and phrases that are likely to be used within the framework of the communi cative situation of each dialogue Grammar The section on grammar introduces the most important grammatical phenomena present in the text of the dialogue further reinforced through exercises Grammar is presented in com municative fashion with brief explanations in English when necessary see Figure 3 Figure 3 Grammar CALICO Journal 25 1 Software Review
10. is structured in consecutively numbered chapters students always have the option to skip various sections and exercises go to the dictionary or listen and repeat a word or a sentence as many times as they wish The short dialogues with their numerous variations facilitate understanding and provide additional vocabulary Learner Fit Design The Filoglossia program is aimed at beginners or near beginners Its developers do not ex plicitly promote the program as a self directed study but have gone to great lengths to incor porate a variety of exercises and resources to assist learners The program does not come as an accompaniment to a textbook and does not contain a manual for grammar and syntax The materials covered in each chapter are rather extensive but the exercises provide only a few examples for practice Given the complexity of the Greek language it is doubtful that average users will be able to learn Greek without some additional instructional resources Users with prior experience in Greek may be able to use Filoglossia without an in structor as a review tool The program does an excellent job in listening comprehension over all understanding of Greek and vocabulary acquisition Learners can listen as many times as they want record their voices or practice with additional vocabulary and useful expressions However feedback within the program is limited to the indication of correctness or incorrect ness by the instructors
11. or translations that are closer to the Greek texts at the expense of the naturalness and sometimes accuracy of their English equivalents For example in Chapter 17 Useful Expressions is translated You ll go to the counter for the packages beside instead of You will go to the next counter for the packages A few typos and mistakes have also been detected Chapter 3 Useful Expressions the English translation Enjoy your staying should be Enjoy your stay Chapter 4 Grammar Neuter Cases Here follow some sentences would not normally be said in English Chapter 4 Grammar Subjunctive Mood A de nite article is missing in the sentence the sub junctive has the endings of the present tense in indicative mood Chapter 4 Grammar Exercise 2 A de nite article is missing Using the neuter noun in plural Chapter 5 Grammar Masculine nouns in stressed in the last syllable from the end should be stressed on the last syllable and from the end should be deleted SUMMARY The Filoglossia program is well designed multimedia language software with many appeal ing features such as authentic and motivating dialogues interactive audio and video capa bilities and well thought out exercises It can be useful as a supplement to a program of formal instruction or as a tool for self study for motivated and experienced user
12. s who wish to review the language but do not have the opportunity to study it in a traditional academic environment Given the lack of feedback to students the program may not work for every one as stand alone software unsupported by classroom instruction Considering the paucity of existing interactive software for learning Modern Greek however a program as extensive and reasonably priced as Filoglossia is a welcome addition The program s limitation to the Windows platform may no longer be a shortcoming once Mac users have the ability to run Windows software on new Intel based Apple computers Aside from the question of platform the availability of the web version even limited to the rst ten chapters has the potential of reaching a wider audience Users of Filoglossia will be encouraged to learn that according to the developers there are plans to move the entire program to the online environment SCALED RATING 1 low 5 high Implementation Possibilities 4 Pedagogical Features 4 Linguistic Accuracy 4 Sociocultural Representations 4 5 CALICO Journal 25 1 Software Review 146 Use of Computer Capabilities 4 Ease of Use 5 Overall Evaluation 4 Value for Money 5 NOTE 1 For a comparison of the two versions see Hatzigeorgiu N Sidiropoulos N amp Charala bopoulou F Learning Modern Greek on the web The Filoglossia software In Proceeding Web based Education 2005 461 114 http www act
13. tation lab environ ment The program can be used directly from the disk that is without installation on the hard drive In this case some functions such as the Help Menu are not accessible Navigation among the different parts of the program is easy once users become familiar with the various navigation buttons Simultaneous access to all resources is one of the program s strongest features The Help File in the top navigation bar however is accessible only through the in troductory page of the dialogue The video segments are synchronized with the transcript The narrative of all videos is available as Greek text and in English translation The vocabulary however is not directly linked to the dictionary Users must click on the dictionary button to look up a word This fea ture may reinforce the communicative intent of Filoglossia but makes the use of the diction ary rather cumbersome especially since users do not have the option to open the dictionary in a separate window The overall sound quality was good but users should test and adjust their audio settings before using the program the selection and quality of photos and videos was very good Activities Procedure The Filoglossia activities focus on listening comprehension pronunciation and vocabulary acquisition There is some emphasis on writing and culture The program uses a variety of activity types described below Dialogues Each dialogue is rst introduced wit
14. tuation or even extraneous spaces There is also no ability to save students progress Voice recordings are not saved nor are any of the grammatical ex ercises The software provides authentic language input via video which features native speak ers who make use of colloquial sociolinguistically appropriate language It expects learners to listen carefully understand and repeat what native speakers of Greek would say in particular situations The program does not claim to follow a sociocultural approach in which the lan guage is learned as part of the culture It does however make an effort to introduce learners CALICO Journal 25 1 Software Review 144 to selective aspects of Greek culture and daily life mostly through additional vocabulary and various cultural presentations The short dialogues focus on changes from a formal form of address to an informal one during a conversation but there is little or no age or social status variation in the dialogue characters The cultural presentations included in the four CD ROMs could be useful in stimulating student interest and serve as a starting point for class discus sion but they are rather narrow in content and scope For example one has to wonder why an overview of neoclassical buildings in Athens should be privileged as an important aspect of Greek culture in a course addressed to beginners The program could be described as learner centered and learner controlled Although it
15. very brief installation instructions A ReadMe le included in all the CD ROMs contains more detailed instructions on how to install and use the program as well as trouble shooting tips Users have to be particularly attentive to installing the Greek keyboard Without proper installation the system will not recognize forms typed in Greek They will also need to be familiar with the Greek keyboard Overall the program presumes knowledge of Windows functions that may not be intuitive to inexperienced users Speed was acceptable but delays inevitably occur since most of the videos and audio tools run directly from the CD ROM An external microphone is required to record the user s voice Otherwise installation was simple The program installed quickly and performed well for the most part A bug was detected though in Chapter 5 in the Grammar section Personal pronouns that prevented the audio les from that section from playing Technologically Filoglossia is a well designed program Users simply insert the CD ROM in the appropriate drive If the CD ROM drive supports Windows auto run capability the installation wizard guides them through the installation process When the CD ROM drive does not support auto run users need to install the program from the Program Manager Once installed the program will recognize all 4 CD ROMs A CD ROM must however be present in the drive for the program to operate which may be problematic in a multis
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