A research-based, interactive application to teach phonics, vocabulary and typing.
The project idea is to develop a typing and language learning application for the target users of the 'Children's Machine' ($100 laptop)

Learning Theories

• Behaviorist
• Multimodality
• Motivation
• Scaffolding
• Cognitive Modeling
• Communicative Language Teaching
• Systematic Phonics

Behaviorist

The Audio-Lingual Method (ALM) arose as a direct result of the need for foreign language proficiency in listening and speaking skills during and after World War II. It is closely tied to behaviorism, and thus made drilling, repetition, and habit-formation central elements of instruction. Proponents of the ALM felt that this emphasis on repetition necessitated a corollary emphasis on accuracy, claiming that continual repetition of errors would lead to the fixed acquisition of incorrect structures and non-standard pronunciation.

Multimodality

According to the cognitive theory of learning, people have separate information processing channels for visual/pictorial processing and for auditory/verbal processing. In order to reduce cognitive load, it is best to couple information into auditory and visual components, thus maximizing working memory.

Motivation

Motivation is an important aspect to learning as it engages the learner and stimulates interest in learning

This is strongly related to the Affective Filter Hypothesis (Krashen, 1984) on second language acquisition which claims that higher motivation predicts more second language acquisition. Krashen mentions the role of "affect", that is, the effect of personality, motivation, and other "affective variables" on second language acquisition, including anxiety (low anxiety relates to second language acquisition), motivation and self-confidence (the acquirer with more self-esteem and self-confidence tends to do better in second-language acquisition). The design of the Little Panda learning environment is specifically done to reduce these affective filters. Feedback is also an integral part of the learning process, and we included as much as we can within the limitations of the technology we used for our prototype. Opportunities to provide reinforcement for learning that satisfies students' motivations are also built in (Greeno, J., et. al., 1996).

Scaffolding

Lev Vygotsky is known for two concepts: scaffolding and zone of proximal development. In construction, scaffolds allow workers to reach heights that they would not be able to otherwise. As they complete their construction, they require fewer and fewer supports. This is the same case with Vygotsky’s concept of instructional scaffolding. Teachers and more capable peers provide students with scaffolds that allow them to attain educational goals. The zone of proximal development is that area of cognitive development in which students can learn with instructional scaffolding.

Cognitive learning is tapped when distinct characters are shown separately and then related to each other. In the lesson modules, for example, individual phonetic symbols are grouped together with tones to form words. In addition, the word history of "ma" (horse), "ma" (mother) and "ma" (scold) is also shown to encourage the formation of patterns of information in the child's mind. Moss and Case have articulated in their paper "Developing Children's Understanding of the Rational Numbers" (1999), that one of the most important roles that instruction can play is to refine and extend the naturally occurring process whereby new schemas are first constructed out of old ones, then gradually differentiated and integrated. Many studies have shown that student ability to learn and understand new material depend strongly on what they already know (Glaser, 1984).

Cognitive Modeling

This refers to the use of explicit instructional talk and animation to reveal thought processes. For example, to model the task of pronouncing 'cat', we make explicit the thought processes and skills involved: /k/ + /a/ + /t/ (with audio and animation).

Communicative Language Teaching

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) emphasizes real-life situations and communication in context (Galloway, 1993). While grammar is still important in the CLT classroom, the emphasis is on communicating a message. Language is used for communication. For this reason, CLT makes use of communication to teach languages. The essence of CLT is the engagement of learners in communication to allow them to develop their communicative competence. In CLT, students practice real-life situations, for example, buying food at the market or asking someone for directions. In these exercises, the goal is for the student to communicate his or her needs and thoughts, without worrying about having perfect grammar.

Systematic Phonics

We feel that systematic and explicit phonics instruction is critical to the acquisition of reading skills. Research has shown that this is more effective than non-systematic or no phonics instruction (Chall, 1967). Systematic phonics emphasizes the regularity of written English to create an entry-level fluency in learners so that they can go on to learn to read for meaning.   

Once the lower-level, bottom-up decoding and reading skills are there, beginning ESL learners can then proceed to work on word-and-sentence meaning. This allows meaningful, communicative (which relates to our CLT philosophy) and real world language use.

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