Developing CALL for heritage languages: The 7 Keys of the Dragon

Abstract

In this article we present an interactive extensible software, The 7 Keys of the Dragon, for the teaching/learning of Albanian and Russian to students that attend primary and secondary education in Greece with the respective languages as their heritage languages. We address the key challenges we encountered during the conceptualization phase of the project development and the specific design choices we implemented in order to accommodate them. Drawing on recent research on the role of ComputerAssisted Language Learning (CALL) applications for young bilingual populations, we aimed at creating a user friendly environment with a clear pedagogical orientation. Furthermore, given that games in language learning are associated with intrinsic motivation and meaningful exposure to the target language, we have integrated a fairytale background narrative, a game-inspired reward system, and two cartoon-like assistant characters to stimulate the user's involvement in the learning tasks. Five chapters for each target language were created, each comprising a text, a variety of scaffolding material and quizzes. The software is designed to provide real-time automatic correction of quizzes and allow for easy expansion with additional quizzes and texts. A separate application for teachers facilitates essay correction and commenting on the students' language learning progress and achievements.

Learning Heritage Language Through Serious Games in Migrant School-aged Children

“…However, applying games into HL learning for children has not been thoroughly investigated, the effectiveness of the games are uncertain [41,57]. Only two researches related to HL learning games for immigrant children were retrieved [48,58]. More studies needed to be conducted to verify the role of games in HL learning among children.…”

“…More and more children are interested in learning language through digital games, social media and other learning approaches with the rise of digital media [47]. Increasing numbers of articles have focused on how advanced technologies facilitate language study among young learners [48]. For example, Pim (2013) conducted an insightful introduction of current e-tools, interactive multimedia, digital games, apps and software.…”

“…However, HL learning games cannot substitute interaction and communication between children and parents, despite the quality and content of the games are important [57]. Revithiadou et al (2015) developed a Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) app called The 7 Keys of the Dragon (7Keys) for primaryand secondary school students in Greece whose HL is Albanian or Russian to learn these languages in class [48]. This HL curriculum adopted a blended learning model [63] -integrate class study and CALL components -to be used in a single teaching context.…”