Vocabulary acquisition software: user preferences and tutorial guidance

What should be the role of AI in computer supported vocabulary acquisition? This paper presents a software system to aid the teaching and learning of vocabulary in the light of this question. It discusses the need to strike a balance between, on the one hand, providing tutorial guidance based on the knowledge and expertise of experienced language teachers, and on the other hand, providing facilities that a learner or teacher can use to control the acquisition process. The software system incorporates a tutoring module, and it has a user interface which is based on computer simulations of flash cards. The tutoring module is able to help either a teacher or learner specify various aspects of the selection, presentation and sequencing of lexical items. The flash card design is extended to allow the user a range of functions that can control the sequence of items and the amount of information that is presented.