Corrector de gramática para estudiantes autodidactas de inglés como lengua extranjera

A Grammar Checker for Autonomous Students of English as a Foreign Language New technologies have greatly increased the opportunities for students of English as a foreign language (EFL) to receive input outside the classroom.At present, however, the only reliable source of corrective feedback on their compositions is a teacher.This article examines the extent to which computer programs can help lower-intermediate-level and intermediate level students of English as a foreign language (EFL) detect and correct mistakes in their written compositions. It notes that spelling-checkers give good results but that parser-based grammar checkers often mislead students. It describes the basis and operation of a new kind of grammar checker (the UNED Grammar Checker) which is based on a «search and match» paradigm. Preliminary studies, using a version of this program prepared for Spanish mother-tongue students,suggest that such a grammar checker may be more reliable and useful.The paper then discusses how an improved version of this grammar checker incorporating regular expressions could cover many more cases, while still giving a high level of reliability. If so, in time the absence of corrective feedback on free-form written production, currently probably the greatest problem facing language learners studying autonomously, will be overcome