MACTEACH PROGRAMME CODE

Currently there are essentially two of these, with code in common. They also use similar input sets, which are distinguished by a code in the first record.

All the teaching programmes use a learning ladder. The user can select a certain number of words or sentences to be learned, review them with answers if desired, then test. If the answer is correct, that word or sentence moves to the next higher rung of the ladder. If incorrect, it falls into the error box, and must be tested with a correct answer a user-selectable number of times before it returns to the ladder. The time allowed for an answer is also user-selectable. Facilities are incorporated for accepting alternative satisfactory answers in either English or Loglan A detailed description of the data file format is attached.

Macteach 1 is a programme for learning whole sentences, either in recognition (Loglan to English) or recall (English to Loglan). A variant of Macteach1 called Macteach4 has never been distributed. It teaches the little words by incorporating them in sentences. The data file was being prepared by JCB shortly before his death, and only the A lexeme is currently available (the logical connectives). The data file for Macteach 1 is called utts, and there is a file for interspersed comments called M1-Text.
The (incomplete) data file for Macteach 4 is called littlewds. There was to be a corresponding comment file called M4-Text but it does not yet exist.

Macteach 2 and 3 are the same programme with different data sets, and were intended for learning the primitives and their affixes in recognition and recall modes. Learning the affixes in this way was not very useful, particularly since some of the affixes are either not used or extremely rare. It was planned to modify the MacTeach set to provide for learning complexes, both to learn the meaning, and to learn the primitives that composed them, and hence the affixes. This has not yet been done.

There are three data files with Macteach 2 and 3. The file for learning primitives is called prims, and that for affixes alone is affs, and for learning them is sets aff.set.

The code is in several modules:
teach1.c (with teach1.h) contains speciaized routines for Macteach 1 and 4, on the Macintosh and iteach1.c for DOS. iteach1.h is missing

tcommon contains the common routines for all Macteach programmes

t1common contains specialized routines for Macteach 1 and 4 for both platforms.

tmcommon contains specialized Macintosh routines for both programme sets.

ticommon contains specialized routines for both DOS sets.

All files are text files and should be readable with any text reading programme. As Macintosh programs, they will have a CR character only for line termination.