Collaborative Language Learning Game as a Device Independent Application

Today’s network landscape is consisting of quite different network technologies, a wide range of end-devices with large scale of capabilities and power, and immense quantity of information and data represented in different formats. A lot of efforts are being done in order to establish open, scalable and seamless integration of various technologies and content presentation for different devices including mobile considering individual situation of the end user. This is very difficult because various kinds of devices used by different users or in different times/parallel by the same user which are not predictable and have to be recognized by the system in order to identify device capabilities. Not only the devices but also Content and User Interfaces are big issues because they could include different kinds of data format like text, image, audio, video, 3D Virtual Reality data and other upcoming formats possibly used by web 3.0. According to Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) after a certain age it is not easy for most of the people to learn a new language since the responsible part of the brain for a new language acquisition becomes more fixed. Moreover language acquisition needs a lot of interaction with other people to practice the language. For an adult person it is very difficult because they have a lot of other stuff to do in their social and professional life. So they need a tool which will support them to learn a new language by providing a chance to practice the desired language very often without requiring a lot of time and they should be able to use the tool in their own existing devices like mobile phone. Language Learning Game (LLG) is an example of such a tool. It is a device independent application where different kinds of devices and data formats are presented, as the content of a flashcard used for collaborative learning. The main idea of this game is to create a short story in a foreign language by exploiting mobile devices. The story is developed by a group of participants by exchanging sentences/data via a flashcard system. This way the participants can learn from each other by sharing their individual knowledge without the need of a constant support from a tutor and without the fear of making mistakes, because the group members are anonymous.

[1]  Stephen Krashen,et al.  LATERALIZATION, LANGUAGE LEARNING, AND THE CRITICAL PERIOD: SOME NEW EVIDENCE , 1973 .

[2]  Bernardo J. Carducci,et al.  The Psychology of Personality , 1998 .

[3]  Hyungshin Choi,et al.  Applying an activity system to online collaborative group work analysis , 2010, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[4]  G. Helbig,et al.  Deutsch als Fremdsprache: Ein internationales Handbuch , 2001 .

[5]  Asta Cekaite,et al.  Collaborative corrections with spelling control: Digital resources and peer assistance , 2009, Int. J. Comput. Support. Collab. Learn..

[6]  F. Fischer,et al.  Collaboration Scripts – A Conceptual Analysis , 2006 .

[7]  Zi-gang Ge,et al.  Exploring e-learners’ perceptions of net-based peer-reviewed English writing , 2011, Int. J. Comput. Support. Collab. Learn..

[8]  Roger Shattuck,et al.  The forbidden experiment : the story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron , 1980 .

[9]  Jean Hannon,et al.  Cultural diversity online: student engagement with learning technologies , 2007 .

[10]  S. Carey,et al.  The Epigenesis of mind : essays on biology and cognition , 1991 .

[11]  Gerry Stahl,et al.  A Model of Collaborative Knowledge Building , 2006 .

[12]  Pierre Dillenbourg,et al.  Collaborative Learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches , 1999 .

[13]  Y. Lou,et al.  Small Group and Individual Learning with Technology: A Meta-Analysis , 2001 .

[14]  David W. Johnson,et al.  Cooperative learning and achievement. , 1990 .

[15]  Lewis A. Bizo,et al.  Team-skills training enhances collaborative learning , 2006 .

[16]  Errors in Language Learning , 2007 .

[17]  Yasuhiro Imai,et al.  Emotions in SLA: New Insights From Collaborative Learning for an EFL Classroom , 2010 .

[18]  P. Kirschner,et al.  Social and Cognitive Factors Driving Teamwork in Collaborative Learning Environments , 2006 .

[19]  Fatma Meawad,et al.  A framework for enabling on-demand personalised mobile learning , 2008, Int. J. Mob. Learn. Organisation.

[20]  Jadwiga Nawrocka-Fisiak,et al.  Foreign and second language learning: Littlewood, William, Language Acquisition Research and its implications for the classroom. Cambridge University Press, 1984, 111 pp., £3.95 , 1985 .

[21]  Tiong T. Goh.  Multiplatform E-Learning Systems and Technologies: Mobile Devices for Ubiquitous ICT-Based Education , 2009 .

[22]  S. Sharan.  Cooperative Learning: Theory and Research , 1990 .

[23]  Michael Beigl,et al.  Web Content Delivery to Heterogeneous Mobile Platforms , 1998, ER Workshops.

[24]  Dan Curticapean,et al.  Mobile Learning a new Paradigm of e-Learning in Optics and Photonics , 2009 .

[25]  E. Lenneberg.  Biological Foundations of Language , 1967 .

[26]  Robert E. Slavin,et al.  Ability Grouping and Student Achievement in Elementary Schools: A Best-Evidence Synthesis , 1986 .

[27]  R. Ploetzner,et al.  Learning by explaining to oneself and to others. , 1999 .

[28]  C. Hmelo‐Silver.  Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn? , 2004 .

[29]  Fatos Xhafa,et al.  Architectures for Distributed and Complex M-learning Systems: Applying Intelligent Technologies , 2009 .

[30]  S. Curtiss.  Genie: A Psycholinguistic Study of a Modern-Day "Wild Child" , 1977 .

[31]  Frank Fischer,et al.  Scripting Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning : cognitive, computational, and educational perspectives , 2007 .

[32]  A. Schoenfeld.  Learning to Think Mathematically: Problem Solving, Metacognition, and Sense Making in Mathematics (Reprint) , 2009 .