Autolire really shows how CD-Rom technology can be relevant and supportive to languages. With the demands and practicalities of language lessons for 14 to 19-year-olds in mind, Autolire supports mainly the development of reading skills. It contains over 700 articles (mostly taken from teenage magazines) of relevance to the interests and curriculum requirements of the target audience. A complete dictionary is constantly accessible, and certain texts have been recorded for extra support.

Texts are grouped by national curriculum areas of experience, with sub-divisions to help the sifting of material. Notre Monde has two groups of texts, for example: Environnement and Animaux en danger. Texts can be chosen by these topics, by level of difficulty or by a key-word search this would select all articles containing reference to, say, whales, irrespective of context.

Texts are of two types: textes preparatoires and principaux. The former are intended to ease pupils into the topics, perhaps before reading more widely from the latter, which are arranged into three levels of difficulty.

The preparatoires have audio support, and key-words are highlighted in a different colour, indicating that they can be looked up instantaneously in a glossary. In most cases a context-relevant translation is given, but in others pupils are invited to draw their own conclusions. Provocant, for example, suggests taking off the ant (-ing) ending and thinking of a similar English word. Not everybody would like this, but it addresses requirements to learn about structures and patterns. The full dictionary can be consulted from all texts.

The disc contains photos and pictures as extra support to the texts, in some cases providing additional information, such as bar-charted results of a survey. The teachers’ booklet contains suggestions for follow-up paper-based and word-processed tasks. Textes preparatoires have built-in optional activities to encourage pupils to think about the subject of the text before, while and after reading.

The textes principaux have far less support but still provide a wealth of material for reading for interest, research or extension.

Teachers will devise ways of exploiting the material according to access to machines, time available and pupils’ needs, but opportunities certainly exist for independent and collaborative work, differentiated and creative activities in fact, name a buzz-word and Autolire seems to be part of the solution! Teachers themselves may find the disc a useful source of current and relevant material. Texts can be printed off or saved to disc for subsequent activities.

There are shortcomings. Why, in a digital format with its capacity for perfection, is the sound so poor? It sounds slightly muffled annoying, but not an impediment to understanding. Far more seriously, a number of words are clipped at the end, producing raci(sme) and au(ssi) in two random samples. Potentially bewildering for learners, and infuriating in that it must, surely, have been avoidable.

Users may find the full dictionary layout confusing again, surely the format allows for a clearer presentation of information. On-screen buttons are consistent with current practice, but their size and placement are not always ideal and, particularly for browsers, keyboard alternatives would help.

Ardent target language devotees might dislike the English in places, but the writers justify it pragmatically.

Autolire is invaluable, despite the sound problem, for the increasing number of schools with CD-Roms. At Pounds 125, get your flexible learning centre, or similar, to pay for it if possible.

German and Spanish versions (CD-Lesen and CD-Lectura) will appear early in 1995 a good deal closer on the heels of French than many other language resources.

Collins Educational - stand P18