A Model for Guided Lexical CALL

Abstract

Based on the nature of vocabulary acquisition, this paper proposes that hypertext be used to design lessons for vocabulary learning, lexical CALL. Two characteristics of hypertext, node and non-linear linking between nodes, are first discussed and suggested, respectively, to include lexical information and to design the semantic network of the target vocabulary. Such implementation of hypertext for vocabulary learning further corresponds to discovery learning.Though appropriate for representing lexical structure and suitable for vocabulary learning, hypertext design itself does cause problems in learning, such as cognitive overload and user-disorientation. Guidance on hypertext is, then, mentioned and classified in terms of how it is activated in a system, two major types of which, informational guidance and interventional guidance, are further discussed of its implementation. This paper ends its discussion by proposing the experiential model for integrating skills of learning vocabulary and for producing learning results from such a ocabulary lesson, guided lexical CALL.