Remote language teaching over SuperJANET: the ReLaTe project

The ReLaTe (Remote Language Teaching over SuperJANET) project developed a remote language teaching application which uses multicast multimedia conferencing. The joint project between University College London and the University of Exeter ran from September 1994 to December 1995. The project developed a system which supports remote interactive language tutoring by adapting and enhancing existing multimedia conferencing technology piloted by the MICE (Multimedia Integrated Conferencing for Europe) project (M.J. Handley et al., 1993; P.T. Kirstein, et al.; 1995), The system was evaluated in a field trial of 4 language courses running over 10 weeks, involving teachers and students at Exeter University and UCL. Evaluation of these sessions aimed: (a) determine whether remote small group language teaching over networks is feasible; (b) identify changes to network and workstation technology required; and (c) to establish whether this style of teaching is compatible with the current pedagogy of language teaching