Four versions of a sentence-shuffling program

This paper traces the origin and development of a text-based CALL activity, namely the shuffling of the sentences of a text and the reconstruction on screen of that text. The first version was implemented in 1980 on a university mainframe computer: the latest version runs under Windows 95/98. The paper emphasises the elements of continuity between the different versions, e.g. a ‘gambling’ format for scoring, and also the new features as they have been introduced, e.g. the inclusion of ‘logging’ or ‘tracking’ of the student's actions, the provision for different strategies of text reconstruction, and in the latest version the availability of the text in parallel translation—in this case in Chinese as well as in English. The classroom use of the latest version is discussed, with special reference to the methodology of ‘Reciprocal Learning’ that it makes possible. Copyright © 1999 Published by Elsevier Ltd.