Vocabulary Learning

We know from decades of research that Language is at the core of everything we do in life, and it is a fundamental part of what a child needs to learn and master in their formative years. Therefore, we have worked closely with Gameloft to develop a vocabulary game for the app, which we are calling the Word Explorer game. In this game children are presented with different types of vocabulary. Many words in this game have more than one meaning. For example, the word plant can refer to a green, living botanical organism, OR it can also mean something like a factory (the recycling plant). 

Right now we are using this game in Applaydu to find out more about the important question of how children come to learn different meanings of words. Currently we have researchers in some primary schools in the Oxford area who have tested children on different aspects of language. We are then following them as they play this word game in Applaydu. We are then going to test them all again to see whether and to what extent they made gains on some of their language tasks as a function of playing this word game in Applaydu.

We are confident that this work will provide us with important insights about the potential for mobile applications such as Applaydu in supporting these fundamental aspects of children’s language learning. 

Findings

So far, we have identified that there is limited research which looks at how specific features of mobile applications (e.g., augmented reality, audio narration) support primary school children’s language and literacy learning. The research that does exist suggests some features of apps are beneficial to children’s language and literacy learning, specifically audio narration (when compared to reading alone, but not reading with an adult) and embedding conversation prompts for parents. Augmented reality components can also increase motivation and learning, but there is no evidence for a benefit of text-relevant hotspots in ebooks. You can find out more about this in our publication here. 

We have also developed a digital assessment of children’s understanding of homonyms. In this assessment, children hear a word (e.g., bat) and select 2 pictures from 6 that they think show two different meanings of that word. We found that this assessment was reliable and valid with children aged 5 to 9 years. We also identified that understanding of homonyms are an area of specific challenge for children learning English as an additional language (EAL) and that children who know more homonyms tend to have better reading comprehension, even when we took into account their general vocabulary scores. You can find out more about this research in our publications here.  

Summary

The vocabulary learning research stream has so far reviewed the existing research on features of apps that support children’s language and literacy learning. It has also developed a digital assessment of children’s knowledge of homonyms (when one word has several meanings, such as bat – an animal or a piece of sports equipment) for use in research. 

We have now developed a digital vocabulary game to teach children the meaning of homonyms. The app is currently being evaluated through a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in schools and through analysing data from app users. 

Publications 

Booton, S., Hodgkiss, A., & Murphy, V. (2021). The impact of mobile application features on children’s language and literacy learning: a systematic review. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.1930057 

Booton, S. A., Hodgkiss, A., Mathers, S., & Murphy, V. A. (2022). Measuring knowledge of multiple word meanings in children with English as a first and an additional language, and the relationship to reading comprehension. Journal of Child Language, 49(1), 164–196. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305000921000052