The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/527274
thelinguist.uberflip.com JuNe/JuLY The Linguist 17 FEATURES twice as many used a tablet at home. 2 It is hardly surprising, therefore, that a growing number of language learning apps are now aimed specifically at children. Among the free, early years options for Spanish are kids Learn Spanish ABc, Spanish Learning For kids, Spanish For kids and Preschool Spanish Free. While the degree of interest in this area is encouraging, the choice can be bewildering. how can you be sure that your chosen app will be effective in terms of teaching the language and motivating the child to learn? Dave Wingler, Project Manager at INkids, agrees this can be problematic. 'there are a lot of apps out there. unfortunately, there are very few that are both enjoyable and capable of helping children reach specific educational goals. there are good companies but there are also a lot of "get rich quick" operators, so it's definitely a case of buyer beware.' Wingler refers to the industry as the 'Wild West'; his company, whose educational apps include vocabulary-builders for 10 languages, is at the frontier. 'the holy grail is to create an app that can help a child reach a specific educational goal, which doesn't mean just passing a test – it could be as broad as to think in the target language – while at the same time being so fun that they learn in spite of themselves. easier said than done,' he admits. For a generation raised in a rich gaming environment, where absorbing apps are used widely both in the classroom and at home, designing language-learning apps that engage children over time while also being effective in their teaching aims is no easy task. one company taking up the challenge is Anamil tech, whose Pacca Alpaca app takes 3-6 year-olds on a colourful journey through Australia, teaching colours, numbers and shapes in one of five languages along the way. I asked my 5-year-old to try it out and the impact was marked: within a week of using the French version he was tranformed from a reluctant language learner to an enthusiastic student, eager to try out more advanced courses. A focus on word acquisition was common to all the apps sampled by our young reviewers (see below). Selected for their high user ratings, the apps did not attempt to teach communicative skills, yet the positive reponse from the children suggests that they may serve another important function in fostering an interest in other languages and creating a thirst for further study. the concern would be if the apps were used as a substitute for other forms of language education. 'A lot depends on how a teacher utilises applications to have the most beneficial effect. I think apps are always going to be supplementing and assisting the classroom or home environment rather than replacing it,' says Wingler. there has been little analysis of the efficacy of language learning apps so far, but one study found that Duolingo users were able to reach the same level in reading and writing after 34 hours as participants in a traditional 135-hour beginners' course. 3 however, as with other more established self-taught methods, getting to an advanced level may prove more difficult. For Wingler, the way forward is interactive and community gaming – a child-friendly, educational version of adventure games such as the Walking Dead, which immerse the user in a story and require them to make decisions that affect the outcome. 'I think we'll see some developers working closely with teachers to create interactive games built around communication,' he explains. 'having an app that calls upon a student to use language with another person gives concrete practice in verbal and listening skills in a way that playing a single-player game cannot.' this implies a new approach not just to self-led learning but to educational app development, with educators and developers working together to create exciting new ways of learning. Notes 1 'Shopping, Productivity and Messaging Give Mobile Another Stunning Growth Year', 6/1/15, Flurry report 2 'children and Parents: Media use and attitudes report 2014', 9/10/14, ofcom. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk 3 Vesselinov, r & Grego, J, 2013, Duolingo effectiveness Study Kids Learn Mandarin Arely, 8 everyone should try this app. I've only had it eight weeks and already I can name lots of animals, body parts, fruits and vegetables, and greetings. the first lesson is all about numbers. others are about family, colours and shapes. It has fun games. two of my favourites are tic-tac-toe and a hot-air balloon game – the aim is to collect the falling pictures that match the writing in chinese. once you've learned to do the nine games in each of the six free lessons you can download the rest of the packs. By the end of five weeks or so you will be really into Mandarin! Fingerprint; iOS & Android. Free; full pack £9.99. Gus on the Go Felix, 5 You can travel round France learning words – Gus the owl shows you an awesome map with places like Paris. the best thing was doing the horse race after learning the words – I liked winning. I unlocked loads of games with stars and trophies, which was awesome, but I did them all quite quickly. the learning bits are a bit boring; I prefer the games and want to design my own character. Felix's dad adds: Felix's brother rufus (3) picked this up the other day and was mesmerised. he loved the repetition. I'd recommend this more for pre-schoolers. Toojuice; 28 languages; iOS and Android. £2.99. Learn&Play Languages Nuria, 12 this app was informative and helped you to learn new languages in an easy and fun way. there were different ways of learning the languages, for example doing them in your record time. Another good thing was that it was partly free (greetings, numbers up to 10 and some food and drink), but unfortunately the rest had to be paid for (like family and places). It was good that you could choose your language and that there were a lot of options to choose from. You could even change the language halfway through. Coolforest Publishing; 11 languages; iOS & Android. Free download; in-app purchases £0.50-£10.79 per item.