Designing an e-Learning System for Language Learning: A Case Study

Within the South African context, e-learning provides various opportunities to contribute towards a multilingual society. This paper describes a new project, ICALLESAL (Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning for Eleven South African Languages), where an e-learning system is being developed for the acquisition of the official South African languages. The paper commences by defining computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and intelligent computer-assisted language learning (ICALL) within the context of e-learning. The benefits of CALL within the South African context are discussed, with specific focus on how it could promote a culture of multilingualism, and also help towards bridging the Digital Divide in South Africa. In the subsequent section, the ICALLESAL system is discussed in more detail by presenting various technologies, content objects, and features of the system.