Translations of Seven Poems by Kenji Miyazawa

In some ways computers have revolutionized the study of foreign languages: The Internet offers a wealth of resources for both teachers and learners, email offers a cheap and convenient way to communicate with people anywhere in the world, computer-based tests and exercises offer instant scores and feedback, and so on. However, analysis of the computer-based ELT materials currently offered by major publishers suggests that these are most likely to either a) eliminate teacher-student and student-student interaction almost entirely, replacing them with what is essentially a self-study package, or b) take the place of the optional student workbook, tagged on to a textbook-based course and offering supplementary drills, tests, and exercises. It is thus not surprising that many teachers feel no particular need to incorporate computers into their teaching, or that many remain unconvinced that computers can add much to the teacher-led language classroom without simultaneously taking much away. This paper discusses how the underlying conflict between textbooks and computer-based packages served as the driving force behind the creation of Costello: Quest-based Learning (Cohen & Hobbs, 2005), a package that combines a paper textbook with a virtual reality computer game for language learners. The software is perhaps best conceptualized as a virtual graded reader, engaging learners in a series of adventure stories at the pre-intermediate to intermediate level, but with the important difference that the way the story develops, and hence the text students see, varies according to how the reader reacts at each stage of the story. While the software focuses attention entirely on meaning, the textbook is used as the medium for presenting form-focused activities based on the language in the stories, and as a springboard for classroom activities that develop the ideas and concepts that underpin the stories. Arguably, this represents a radical and innovative approach, in which the computer adds an extra dimension to the learning experience, but does not stifle the human interaction that many regard as a vital ingredient in the language classroom