Unlike multiple choice questions, relatively uninformative answer keys, and gross mainstreaming of students characteristic of workbooks, ILTSs provide a more natural language learning environment.
Learners can input complete sentences and receive error-specific feedback.
Instruction is also individualized to more closely address the diverse skills of language learners. Web-based instruction, as one of the fastest growing areas in distance education, has also allowed language learners to study independently of time and place but, at the same time, it has provided new challenges for ILTSs. In addition to a context-sensitive grammar, parsing algorithms need to be general enough to cover a variety of native languages. Many natural language processing tools must be adapted for these particular needs. Unlike many commercial courseware systems that provide simpler multiple choice questions, a number of more intelligent research systems for language learning have been developed.