ICT v human interaction in language learning – humans should be more.

When I walk into my daughters classroom it’s like the bridge on the Starship Enterprise. Screens all around, laptops, interactive white board. “Our co-ordinates please, Mr Zulu?”

And language learning has adopted ICT, bringing many marvelous programs to students. Point at this word and you hear the pronunciation. Multiple choice – instantly marked. Spellings corrected – as you write. You can even just ask your computer to translate from virtually any language – to any language.

At home we have some expensive language software and Muzzy and audio CDs. We have the internet of course. There are great little apps you can play with on your smartphone….you can listen to foreign TV and radio too.

And yet … and yet – I think there may be too much. Too much what? Well screens, mice, images, virtual stuff.

Language is the art of communication with another human being. 

Language is communication – being understood by and understanding another human. Call me old fashioned – but we benefit more when we practice language speaking with each other – rather than clicking a mouse or speaking to a computer and watching waves tell us if we pronounce correctly. There is plenty of research to corroborate that interaction with people is the best way to learn a language. What is more, the other person we are interacting doesn’t have to be fluent – just someone willing to learn too.

The Bilingual Edge: what language resources really work?

Linguistics Professors Kendall King and Alison Mackey of Georgetown University state in their excellent book The Bilingual Edge (Collins Living) that for language learning to be effective it:“must be with a real human being, and not a DVD, television program, computer game or talking toy. These edutainment devices, while extremely well marketed and popular, cannot substitute for a real human being and real interaction”

I urge you to read the book – it a revelation and not at all based on conjecture – but on solid research. They say that CDs, DVDs, software programs, educational toys make promises “that end in disappointment – in part because these products and programs are unfortunately not based on what science tells us about how children actually learn languages.”

Of course technology has its place – but I wonder if it should be the back up to human interaction rather than the default. Interestingly, children often adore real language games with human interaction. Our  foreign language game KLOO rewards children for making sentences and learning words. They can race to Paris or Madrid and the longer their sentences and the more French or Spanish words they learn en route – the faster they get there. The reaction of children, reported by teachers, is astounding. They report fast learning, renewed enthusiasm and fun. It seems that the kids want to break away from screens too.

The value of the humble board and card game

Class can’t be all hands on fun and games – but many teachers are reporting that the IT pendulum is jammed to the ICT end of the spectrum and when they bring it back to the middle – mixing ICT with games and human interaction – wonderful things happen.

I have no idea how much can be spent on IT for language learning. Many thousands of pounds I imagine. Our humble card and board game has won 6 major awards including the ToyTalk Best Board and Card Game 2011 and Runners Up as Language Product of the Year (to an on-line computer software program!).

Worth breaking open a pack of cards I think. Hands up if you can make a sentence 7 cards long and win 7 points?

Related articles

• Top Tips for learning a second language (languagepie.wordpress.com)

How to teach kids a second language?

This is an important question. Numerous studies have shown that command of a foreign language can have a dramatic affect on so many aspects of your child’s life. Perhaps it is obvious that a child with a second language enjoys a different cultural perspective and can expect more enjoyable holidays. But did you know that children with proficiency in a second language can expect to earn more, have more career options, be more creative and even enjoy mental health benefits?  It is easy to see how a second language offers so much more than just another subject to notch up on the cv.

A second language is an asset that stays with you for life.

So the question really is: How best to acquire a second language for my child?

Language Acquisition for Kids

At the risk of sounding trite and stating the obvious – the first rules for language learning for kids is to make it fun. If learning is a miserable experience, you and your child won’t get far.

However, right here we need a big NEON WARNING SIGN because it is at this precise point that many aspiring parents make their first mistake and reach for the nearest and most fun looking resource for kids – without looking under the bonnet and seeing if it actually works. The fact is it is easy to be suckered by slickly marketed bilingual toys and materials that look like fun. They make some carefully worded claims. However if they do not embed proven language principles then they may provide fun – but will fall short of meaningfully teaching a language.

Language Resources for kids to avoid

Fortunately there is in fact a large amount of research on language learning for children to inform us what does and does not work. This unbiased information is often crowded out by all the noise around many slickly marketed products. To help us through the noise, Language Professors Kendall Mackey, Ph. D and Alison Mackey, Ph.D in their excellent book, The Bilingual Edge,  look through all the data and warn of the many resources that simply do not work. They are especially dismissive of:

• Foreign TV
• Language DVDs
• Talking Toys
• Many software programs

The fact is that that these and many other language products, in their words, make

“many promises that end in disappointment – in part because these products and programs are unfortunately not based on what science tells us about how children actually learn languages”

If these types of language resources are to be avoided, what does work?

Language Resources for kids that do work

Fortunately our language professors are equally clear about what characteristics language resources for children should have. We have already stated one: Fun!  The other key ingredient is Human Interaction. The human does not have to be a teacher or fluent in the second language – just someone who wants to support the learner…a helping parent is perfect.

Equipped with that knowledge we can now look for tools which will incorporate those qualities. Specifically our professors recommend:

• Real Language Games (as opposed to virtual ones)
• Reading stories with your child and working on the words together
• Active Speaking – role playing – as opposed to point and click, repetition, TV or audio.
• Incorporating language into everyday routines: naming food by their foreign name, singing silly songs together, exchanging pleasantries in the foreign language….

A foreign language game that ticks the boxes

We have created KLOO, a real world language game that incorporates all of the scientific language principles above. Players make sentences and learn words to score points and power little motor cars in a race to Paris, Madrid or London. It is fast, furious and fun – and learners are usually amazed at how quickly they pick up the language. KLOO has won 6 major awards – more than any other language game ever. In 2011 it won the Toytalk Best Board and Card Game. Many schools have started using the game to enthuse children and make it more fun.

The board game version comes with four decks each focusing on an important aspect of the language: ‘People’, ‘Food & Drink’, ‘Places’ and ‘Everyday Objects’. Currently you can learn French, Spanish or English as a foreign language with KLOO.

Check out how easy it is to learn how to make thousands of sentences with each deck of KLOO cards. Have fun!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSredolIRhE&feature=g-upl]

Related articles

• What’s the best age to learn a language? (languagepie.wordpress.com)
• Top Tips for learning a second language (languagepie.wordpress.com)
• Languages and games help old age and dementia (languagepie.wordpress.com)

Winning students over to MFL!

For MFL teachers the aim is to get their students to learn a second language. Hook or by crook.

It is natural then for teachers to want to explain why learning a language is so important. The problem is that, although learning a language bestows huge benefits on the learner, some students seem impervious to persuasion and are, well, disinterested – and no amount of persuasion will move them. Many teachers (and parents) have told me how hugely frustrating this can be.

This is what a reluctant MFL student hears when you explain the many benefits of language learning:

“An important subject (blah, blah); good grades (blah, blah); career prospects (blah, blah); cultural understanding (blah, blah); useful on holidays (blah, blah and more blah).”

Students: What did she say? Is this lesson nearly over?

That seems terribly cruel – but unfortunately true because I was one of those 13 year old linguaphobes who could not wait for German to finish (sorry Mr Dobson!). My love of learning a language came after school and indeed after university. It was only when I married an Italian that I saw the light.

What to do?

If we can’t persuade them – we can entice them into learning a language!

This is where games kick in. A well constructed game can essentially lure the student into learning – without them feeling like its work. Let me explain.

I have been involved in sport and games for many years (I ran the 1995 World Chess Championships – see picture). Over that time I have seen countless times how games will motivate, energize and encourage players to excel beyond the norm.  The trick that games seem to do, is change the objective and tap into our innate competitive instinct.

Games have the same affect on me. I, for instance, despise running as a means of keeping fit – I mean really detest it. And yet I will run like an idiot to win a game of squash. This game of hitting a small ball between four walls, taps into some deep rooted instinct to try to win. We are all susceptible to it – and if harnessed, can be an amazingly powerful learning tool.

Harnessing the power of a MFL language game

With a language learning game, such as KLOO’s Race to Paris, the aim of the game is to reach Paris first – not learn a language. However, you get there by making French sentences and learning words as fast as possible to score points. In this way, learning a language becomes the means to winning the game.

If you do introduce a game like KLOO into the classroom or home, I urge you to sit back and watch the power of games in motion. It’s not that all of a sudden your students have miraculously fallen in love with language (if only it were true!). No – it’s because learning a language enables them to achieve an objective that is important to them at that moment – winning the game.

Often after a game both the students and teachers are taken aback by how much can be learned in a short period of time…and that it was it was fun. In fact not like work at all – just playing.

Careful – this learning a language gig might become a habit.

Related articles

• How I Learned a Language in 90 Days [Language] (lifehacker.com)
• Finding the best MFL Resources – panning for language gold! (languagepie.wordpress.com)

Let the Games begin – in your class!

With all the euphoria around the Olympics and the renewed focus on the benefits of kids playing sports, we should not forget that games not just for the playing fields.

Games are important in the classroom too. They can play a hugely important and effective part in a child’s education and have in-built advantages to many other educational materials. When we play games our senses are heightened and as a result:

• We focus more
• We are more alert
• We try harder
• We have fun

Of course a  game for school has to be more than just stimulating and good fun. It has to be educational.

A Language Olympics in the Classroom

So for learning languages you could, for instance, have a game which is about learning words and making sentences in order to score points and race your car to Paris or Madrid. This is essentially what KLOO is – a point scoring race! But the way you get there is by learning a language. Compete, race, overtake! First one to the capital wins.

As a games designer, I initially created KLOO to help make learning a language fast, easy and fun for my own children. Teachers who have taken the game into the classroom have been genuinely taken aback by the reaction of their children – much as I was by my own. That is the power of games working in the classroom

Take a look at our Amazon collection. Happy, enthusiastic kids learning a language fast from £12.99.

Click here to find out more about our MFL Games for the classroom 

Related articles

• How MFL teachers can trick students in love with language learning! (languagepie.wordpress.com)
• School playing field sell-offs continue to rise (guardian.co.uk)
• Connected Educator Month: Game-Based Learning (ed.gov)