Persuasive Hebrew Exercises: The Wit Of Technology-Enhanced Language Learning

Abstract

This chapter describes current work by the author to develop learning technology for the Werkgroep Informatica Vrije Universiteit (WIVU) database which Eep Talstra and his Werkgroep Informatica team is building for storage and retrieval of linguistic and textual information on the Hebrew Bible. The work on corpus-based language learning described in the chapter is an initial stage in a larger research project to construct persuasive learning objects and technologies (PLOTs). The chapter traces the development of tools from the early teaching technology in 2004 to the current Ezer Emdros-based Exercise Tool. The chapter introduces the linguistic terminology from the database which is used in learning technology. It explains the structure of a curriculum for teaching Biblical Hebrew from the database for Genesis 1-3, and describes when and where technology-enhanced exercises can be introduced, based on the author's test results and observations from the classroom as well as on focused interviews. Keywords: corpus-based language learning; Eep Talstra; Ezer Emdros-based exercise tool; Genesis; Hebrew Bible; persuasive learning objects and technologies (PLOT); WIVU database