Toward a neuroscience-informed evaluation of language technology

Abstract

Abstract With the ever-increasing number of available language technology products, there is also a need to evaluate them objectively. Unsubstantiated beliefs about what language technology can and cannot do inside or outside the language classroom often influence decisions about the choice of language technology to be used. The declarative/procedural model, which makes a clear distinction between the declarative and procedural memory systems, can help to provide an objective, neuroscience-informed evaluation of language technology. The central argument in this paper is that language technology caters predominantly to the declarative memory system. This system is very effective in forming explicit metalinguistic knowledge but does not lead to automatic production or procedural ability. For technology to promote procedural ability, it should instead cater to the procedural memory, which involves the implicit neurofunctional computational system. This paper provides a language technology evaluation flowchart to help professionals evaluate the language technology products they will use and gauge their expectations of those products more realistically. It also provides a list of factors to be taken into account in maximizing the benefits of technology.