Multilingual Publishing on the Internet: Challenges and Opportunities for Language Educators

Speaker : Name: Dr. Madanmohan RAO
Institution: Web publishing firm Planetasia, Bangalore, India.
Email: madanr@planetasia.com
Date: Thursday 16 September
Language : English

Read more articles on the address: https://www.economictimes.com/today/16netw01.htm  

bulletListen to Madanmohan's Keynote 

This talk will focus on the intersection of the worlds of multilingual Internet publishing (on the World Wide Web and organisational Intranets) and CALL. From university Intranets to multilingual automated translation services on Web sites, language learners and educators can avail themselves of a wide range of searchable, hyperlinked content in multiple languages, especially news material of a current and frequently updated nature.

This presents numerous opportunities for CALL, but also poses special challenges to CALL initiatives in developing nations. This talk will cover challenges in getting basic connectivity, advantages of using hybrid online/offline solutions (eg. using products like WebWhacker on Intranets), and the global nature of online audiences especially for diaspora populations.

It will also highlight upcoming opportunities in regional multilingual publishing (for instance, in the Malay language in SouthEast Asia), development of multi-platform and multi-standard tools for publishing and training (eg. multilingual CBT systems), bilingual services (eg. English-Japanese educationalsites), design of hybrid platforms (eg. aggregating content on Intranets for speedier online access; platforms integrating CD-ROMs and Internet access), and online translation services.

About the speaker

  Dr. Madanmohan Rao is Principal Consultant at Bangalore-based Web publishing firm Planetasia. He was formerly the Communications Director at the United Nations Inter Press Service bureau in New York. Madan has a background in computer science and journalism, from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is on the board of editors of "On The Internet," the international magazine of the Internet Society, a columnist at the "Economic Times" daily in India, and the editor of the Webzine Indialine. He has spoken on Internet-related issues in a dozen countries in Latin America and Asia.