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In the à la carte environment, the user is able to compose a training unit which precisely
meets his individual linguistic needs. The end user of Verbochip will have to select
both content and strategies. He will narrow down the possibilities of the extensive
content base to a digestible,! la carte learning unit: in an easy-to-handle menu system he
indicates the tenses, voices and verbs he wants to work with (Figure 3). Secondly he can
choose from a wide variety of exercises to actually study and review these tenses.
Verbochip has a presentation mode in which the selected learning material is shown to
the user so that he can study it. Moreover the program offers a set of exercises on the
verb conjugation, the principal parts and the use of the tenses in context.
Crucial in the à la carte environment is that ultimate freedom be given to the user: the
program will not force him to make specific selections or to follow a set order of
selections and/or strategies. Therefore teachers can prepare didactically well-balanced
learning and training units for the specific learning needs of their individual students in
a separate environment.
CALICO Journal, Volume 11 Number 2 54