Le multimédia au service de l'apprentissage de l'anglais par des adultes

The research aims to identify the role of multimedia in language learning and a number of arguments associated with new technology are examined with reference to this field. As the technical and pedagogical aspects are closely intertwined, the work begins by examining the characteristics of digital multimedia. The physoliogical and cognitive ergonomy of educational software (interface and hypertext organisation) are considered and the importance of distinguishing human intersubjectivity and man/machine interactivity is underlined. The limits of the machine in supplying personaIised help to the autonomous learner increase the importance of the pedagogical options present in the software and the necessary connections with other learning activities. In chapters 2 and 3 a link between structuralist theory and the development of formal logic is put forward as is a possible correlation between the orientation of cognitive research and a lack of interest in the intersubjective aspect of language learning. The study of language and communication theory concludes that self-standing computer assisted language learning is not conducive to the acquisition of a communicative competence but can favour the acquisition of other language skills. After the analysis of multimedia technology the research deals with its social integration. Chapter 4 presents some learning situations and examines the learner/machine module more closely at INSA of Toulouse and four other institutes. The results of questionnaires on the attitudes towards multimedia of learners, teachers, and training institutes shed light on certain arguments associated with multimedia. The importance of maintaining a concomitant interest in the didactic quality of the product, the learner's methodology and the associated use of multimedia with a variety of intersubjective activities guided by an expert becomes apparent. The analysis of CD-Roms (chapter 5) leads to a synthesis of the typologie of the exercises, their mediatization and in chapter 6 of how they can contribute to individualised learning. As human interaction provides learning opportunities othe than those with a machine, chapter 7 identifies the advantages of each type of learning in order to favour a combined acquisition of the language code and a communicative competence.