Using computer science as a foundation, we have organically integrated linguistics and language education to develop cutting-edge online teaching materials referred to as TUFS Language Modules in numerous languages. There are believed to be various levels of language use. At our COE, we divide language use into three different levels: fundamental language, ordinary language and cultural language. The modules and corpora correspond to each of these language levels as shown below.
| Fundamental Language Level | Ordinary Language Level | Cultural Language Level |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation Module IPA Module |
Dialogue Module, Grammar Module, Vocabulary Module |
|
| Lexical Category Corpus, Function-specific & Objective-specific Multilingual Corpora | ||
Each module is created in a collaborative effort by faculty members in charge of language education and graduate students. The module is then prepared for publication on the Web with the assistance of the Computer Science Group and incorporated in the e-Learning System. These TUFS Language Modules are not only used in classes at our and other universities, but are also being implemented in foreign language education training programs organized by graduate students.
The Linguistic Informatics Group evaluates the TUFS Language Modules from the perspectives of Web materials and discourse analysis, and these evaluation results are then used to improve the modules. In addition, theoretical research of what is being learned through the TUFS Language Modules can be carried out by using studies related to language learning strategies and description of language proficiency levels.
To conduct research on linguistic usage at the ordinary or cultural language level, the Linguistics Group utilizes existing corpora or constructs function-specific and objective-specific multilingual corpora (including minority languages) through field research. These research results are then eventually applied to the TUFS Language Modules.
| Linguistic Informatics Group |
――┬―― | Linguistics Group |
| ――├―― | Language Education
Group |
|
| ――└―― | Computer Science Group |