The language learner and the software designer

Abstract

When Susan presented this paper at EUROCALL 97 she was extremely ill. As Susan's PhD supervisor, I knew only too well what she was going through when she mounted the rostrum and nervously organised her notes, but I could not have imagined that in two short months her life would come to an end. Such was Susan's courage in her struggle against cancer that she gave few outward indications of her suffering and only looked to the future, continuing to teach, to research and to give her attention to her home and family.My last conversation with Susan centred on this paper and the trials she was about to conduct with her students in the new academic year. The paper is published here with the minimum of editing. It stands as a tribute to Susan's research but represents only a short summary of the vast amount of data that she had collected so meticulously, and it only hints at the interesting findings that were beginning to emerge. It is likely, however, that the mass of notes that Susan has left behind will yield further results.Susan is greatly missed by her colleagues and students at Middlesex University and by all her friends and family.