Localized Iterative Design for Language Learning in Underdeveloped Regions: The PACE Framework

BERKELEY INSTITUTE OF DESIGN

BDLocalized Iterative

Design for Language Learning in

Underdeveloped Regions:

The PACE Framework

Matthew KamDivya RamachandranVarun DevanathanJohn CannyBerkeley Institute of Design &Computer Science DivisionUniversity of California,

Berkeley

Anuj TewariDhirubhai Ambani Institute ofInformation & CommunicationTechnology (India)

CHI 2007San Jose, CA

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0326582.

Relevance of English as a Second Language (ESL) in India

• English is a global language: 1.2 to 1.5 billion people in >170 countries (Crystal 1997)

• ESL is taught in almost all schools in India

• Mastery of English is the “single most influential factor that determines access to … important avenues of economic and social advancement” (Kishwar 2005)

• 90% of indigenous web content in India is in English

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“World Language” Fluency

• Low-income populations in Africa, Asia and Latin America desire to improve command of an appropriate “world language” (Clegg, Ogange & Rodseth 2003; Faust & Nagar 2001; Kapadia 2005)

• Widely spoken language, e.g. English, Mandarin, Spanish, etc.

• Regional dialect is not necessarily native language for low-income groups

• “World language” fluency opens the door to further education, “New Economy” jobs, higher incomes, social prestige, etc.

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Schools Fail at “World Languages”

• Schools in developing countries have limited impact

• For example, in India:

• Rural ESL teachers communicated with us through interpreters

• 43% to 61% of school-going-age children do not attend school regularly (Azim Premji Foundation 2004)

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Our Envisioned Solution

• Mobile games that target learning anytime, anywhere

• Make ESL learning resources more accessible

• Make learning process more enjoyable

• Run on cellphones, the fastest growing technology platform in the developing world

• Target local language learning needs

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Case for e-Learning Games

• Enhance motivation and learning (Jenkins 2005)

• Incorporate good learning principles (Gee 2003)

• Prior randomized experiment (Banerjee et al. 2005)

• 2 years, >10,000 urban slums students in India

• Played math computer games twice per week

• Significant gains in math test scores

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Central Question

How can we promote reuse when localizing language learning software applications with communities in the developing world?

Recurrent challenges:

• Limited time for iterative design in the field

• Wide disparity in age, etc. for each literacy level

• Limited exposure to high technology

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Related Work: Localization

• Adapting software for a local context involves two steps

1. Internationalization

2. Localization

• Previous work have mostly focused on the user-interface, not content (e.g. Marcus and Gould 2000, Smith et al. 2004, Yeo 2001)

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Design Pattern

• “Template” solution to previous problem

• For ESL learning task, a design pattern is the steps that learner engages in to develop language skills

• Benefits:

• Represent solutions to frequent problems in skeletal form

• Encourages reuse, avoids reinventing the wheel

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Example Learning Activity (from: Rosetta Stone)

• Word-picture matching activity

• Targets vocabulary building and listening comprehension

• Teaches four words

• Highlights each picture as its word is played aloud

• Then tests learner

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Example Pattern

Pattern name: Oral Word Semantics Association

Focus: vocabulary building, listening comprehension

Solution (Suppose X=4, i.e. teach 4 words per round):

Repeat step 1 for X times:1. Says a word and displays its meaning pictorially

Repeat steps 2-3 for X times:2. Displays one of the X words from step 13. Give learner at least X pictures to choose from, and feedback on whether or not his choice was correct

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Related Work: Design Patterns• Patterns have not been used in instructional

design for language learning nor software localization

• Have been used in

• Urban planning and architecture (Alexander 1977)

• Software engineering (Gamma et al. 1995 aka “Gang of 4”)

• Interaction design (Borchers 2001)

• Website design (Van Duyne et al. 2002)

• Computer science education (Bergin)

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PACE Framework

• The four components of PACE framework

• Pattern

• Activity

• Curriculum

• Exercise

• Pattern Activity Curriculum Exercise

• Modular design and reuse

• Localize only those parts that need changing

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Early Lessons (Spring 2006)• Worked on over 30 ESL learning games

• Introduced patterns after finishing initial designs

• Initial lessons• Use patterns as a “generative” design tool,

not in “formulaic” manner• Facilitate iteration on user-interfaces and

curriculum by keeping them separatePattern ? ? Exercise on cellphone

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On to Round 2! (Summer 2006)

• Distilled >50 patterns

• Shortlisted 11 patterns for language beginners

• Letter-sound correspondences (reading and writing skills)

• Word-meaning associations (listening and reading skills)

• Pronunciation (speaking skills)

• Syllable segmentation (reading skills)

• Consulted ESL teacher with teaching experience in rural Central America on these patterns

PACE: Pattern Activity Curriculum Exercise

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Sample of Commercial Packages• Reviewed >35 language learning

applications from commercial market

• Sample was selected based on proxy indicators

• Professional customer base

• Excellent ratings from previous purchasers on e-commerce, home schooling, etc. websites

• Selected for balance between listening, reading, speaking and writing skills


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Approach to Extracting Patterns

• Theory

• First language acquisition for children (Bruner 1983)

• Second language acquisition for children & adults (Bialystok & Hakuta 1994, Krashen 2003)

• Reading acquisition (Snowling & Hulme 2005)

• Practice

• ESL teaching methods (Krashen & Terrell 1983, Larsen-Freeman 2000)


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Learning Activities

• The computer-mediated activity and its user-interface

• Concrete instantiation of an (abstract) design pattern

• Designed 9 learning activities based on the 11 shortlisted patterns

• Design goals

• Learnability

• Fun and engagement (Malone 1980)


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Curriculum

• Syllabus that learner is supposed to learn

• Alphabet and context-specific vocabulary

• Scenarios for school, nature, traveling & shopping

• Numbers, dates and time

• Images from clipart libraries were edited for cultural appropriateness

• Audio voiceovers recorded with Indian accent


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Exercises

• Exercise = Activity + Curriculum • Implemented 6 learning activities to be

piloted in Uttar Pradesh, India in late Summer 2006

GraphemeGraphemecorrespondence

Syllablesegmentati

on

GraphemePhonemecorrespondence

SemanticWordcorrespondence


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Summary: Our PACE Process• Localized highly-rated commercial language

learning packages for an underserved community

• Pattern Activity Curriculum Exercise

Pattern name: Oral Word Semantics Association

Focus: vocabulary building, listening comprehension

Solution (Suppose X=4, i.e. teach 4 words per round):Repeat step 1 for X times:1. Says a word and displays its meaning pictorially

Repeat steps 2-3 for X times:2. Displays one of the X words from step 13. Give learner at least X pictures to choose from, and

feedback on whether or not his choice was correct

“Stop”

“Conductor”

…

word-picturematching oncellphones

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Iterative Design in the Field• India: afternoon school for urban slums girls

• Kindergarten and 1st grade students (14 girls)

• ESL baseline: some knowledge of alphabet

• Played 6 exercises over 3 days

• 6th grade students (11 girls)

• ESL baseline: simple sight vocabulary and basic conversational greetings

• Played 12 exercises over 5 days

• No prior cellphone experience

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Benefits: Multiple Age Groups

•Reused the same curriculum for younger learners

Cluster of English alphabet (e.g.

vowels) ?

• Learning activity for kindergarten children

• Learning activity for older children

• Learning activity for adults

“A”, “E”, “I”, “O”, “U”

One curriculum for many activities

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Benefits: Comprehensive Suite

•Reuse the same curriculum for multiple learning needs, after extensive iteration

Vocabulary for travel-related words

• Learning activity for spelling

• Learning activity for listening comprehension

• Learning activity for pronunciation practice

One curriculum for many activities

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Benefits: Learnability

•Reused the same learning activity for multiple curricula, to promote learnability

• Vocabulary for travel-related words

• Vocabulary for shopping-related words

• Vocabulary for other functional categories

Learning activity for word-picture association

One activity for many curricula

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Positive Outcomes: Learning• PACE permitted rapid iterative design in the

field

• User acceptance issues ironed out in time

• Kindergarten and 1st grade students

• Most completed 2 or 3 exercises, out of 3

• 6th grade students

• Post-test vocabulary gains (p < 0.001, effect size = 1.16, n = 11)

• Transfer to story-writing domain

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Conclusion

• Design patterns

• Capture best practices (internationalization)

• Facilitate adaptation to local contexts (localization)

• Yield positive learning outcomes

• PACE framework facilitates

• Rapid iterative design in the field

• Flexibility for differences in age groups and learner levels

• Reuse, learnability and scalability

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Acknowledgement

• Local community partners (India) • Urvashi Sahni, Pratim Basu, Siddharth Bhagwani

• Colleagues• Ruth Alexander, Asya Grigorieva, Dimas

Guardado, Jeffrey Heer, Kristopher Hom, Maksim Lirov, Aaron McKee, Anand Raghavan, Priyanka Reddy, Aretha Samuel, Monish Subherwal, Susan Woolley

• Anonymous reviewers and Associate Chairs• National Science Foundation (Grant No. 0326582)• Microsoft Research (Digital Inclusion award)• Intel Undergraduate Research Program

Documents

Localized Iterative Design for Language Learning in Underdeveloped Regions: The PACE Framework