WO2003067552A1

WO2003067552A1 - Language learning method and system

Info

Publication number: WO2003067552A1
Application number: PCT/NZ2003/000016
Authority: WO
Inventors: Geoffrey Alan Mead
Original assignee: Geoffrey Alan Mead
Priority date: 2002-02-08
Filing date: 2003-02-07
Publication date: 2003-08-14
Also published as: TW583613B; TW200302991A; AU2003206470A1

Abstract

A method for use in an educational/teaching institution, for learning and teaching a language, training speech and/or other aural/audio/multimedia communication methods. The method uses software installed on a computer to manipulate server stored multimedia data over a local area network within the institution. The software allows at least one tutor to prepare, store, present and change multi-media/audio course content on the server according to the needs of a class and to invite or require multimedia/audio responses from a student or students in the form of homework, assignments or required practice.

Description

LANGUAGE LEARNING METHOD AND SYSTEM

Field of the Invention The invention relates to language learning and more particularly to a language learning method and system operated in association with a computer software programme.

Background to the Invention

At present most languages are learnt from text books and written material. Such methods do not necessarily facilitate accurate learning of a language in its oral or phonetic form. Reliance on written material inevitably causes mis-pronunciation and can result in poor embedded accents.

Traditional instruction methods are strong in conveying the written word but poor in conveying the skills of good speech, accent and intonation.

Traditionally, unless there is an immersion situation, a student has to rely on the written records or notes to practice the material learnt in class, and without auditory stimulation will simply imbed in his or her mind an approximation of the language based on the interpretation of the written, material.

This results in poor or indecipherable speech which because it is imbedded at an early stage, is extremely difficult to correct at a later date.

Additionally a number of computer based learning systems are known. All such computer software inventions known to the applicant that use audio to assist in speaking a language do not have the following: . the ability of a tutor to record and control the curriculum. Only set lessons are available; the ability to create an audio media for student use; the ability to work in a classroom situation; and are language specific and do not allow for customisation by a tutor or student.

An object of the invention is therefore to provide a method of language learning which can be used between any two languages.

Further objects of the invention will become apparent from the following descriptions which are given by way of example only.

Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method for use in an educational/teaching institution, for learning and teaching a language, training speech and/or other aural/audio/muitimedia communication methods using software installed on a computer to manipulate server stored multimedia data over a local area network within the institution, the software allowing at least one tutor to prepare, store, present and change multi-media/audio course content on the server according to the needs of a class and to invite or require multimedia/audio responses from a student or students in the form of. homework, assignments or required practice.

The method can include an administration module which integrates with a computer system of the teaching/educational institution to allow automatic designation of a student at enrolment, automatic database allocation and disk space and other administrative tasks such as password allocation. The method can further include an installable software package that can display, record and play audio and other multimedia designed in such a way to provide an invaluable aid to the teaching and learning of languages and other disciplines. The installable software package can allow a choice of fonts by the user and thereby allows typed input in fonts or characters of any script, including Asian and other eastern writing systems.

Part of the installable software package can allow the choice of screen fonts sizes by the user and thereby allows use in the classroom with the aid of a data projector or similar aid.

The method can further include engineering the software of the administration module to allow an overall administrator to designate multiple classes and course instances according to the needs of the institution thereby allowing as many different courses and classes and students to simultaneously use the database and access the correct material without hindrance from each other as is needed by the requirements of the institution.

The method can be an aid generally to the teaching/learning of languages and other communication methods, and uses audio/multimedia to reinforce the teaching of the institution and deliberately avoids having a software system create or otherwise synthesize responses or carry out calculations as to correct grammar or provide any other output other than that entered by the administrator, tutor (s) and student(s) except to give comment on a comparison between a tutor's rendition and an attempt by a student of the same word or phrase. The method can further allow searching, indexing and sectioning of course material under titles, chapters and pages allowing instant retrieval as well as searching for individual words and phrases both in the tutor's prepared data and the student's response/practice data.

The method can further allow the tutor to record multi media data such as an audio file (phrases in a language to be learnt) and or pictures or a video to further reinforce the audio.

The method can further include engineering the software to allow the tutor to monitor the responses and progress of the student by indexing all student input to the correct and relevant section/page on the tutor's material and therefore allowing the tutor to require responses both written and audio/multimedia from the students in support of their progress and engineering the software so that the tutor can visit each student's area in turn, be instantly presented with the student material relevant to that which the tutor has selected in the tutor area.

The method can further allow the tutor to prepare conversations (which can in their intrinsic nature be questions and responses), on a phrase by phrase basis and to require the student to provide responses.

The method can include the situation where the tutor's response example can be hidden from the student and shown at will to all a class by the tutor (once the student content has been assessed), for further self assessment by the student.

The method can further allow the student (or tutor) to hide the written phrases in order to test and assess understanding of the audio/multimedia output. According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a teaching or educational system which when properly installed in an institution, enables both written and audio/multimedia content of a class to be visited by -a student or students in their own time using either a personal computer connected to a Local Area Network of the institution, or by recording a data CD of a selection of course work and using this data on a home or other personal computer which has been loaded with a licensed copy of an installable software package that can display, record and play audio and other multimedia designed in such a way to provide an invaluable aid to the teaching and learning of languages and other disciplines or in audio format for use in a personal media player.

The method according to the further aspect can include further engineering the software to allow the student(s) to custom record selections of the course content and their responses on audio/multimedia tapes or disks for use in practice in their own time, such as while driving a car or use with a portable CD or tape player.

The method can be a teaching or educational system which is installed in a students Personal Computer or other intelligent device to allow re-visitation of the class content in written/ audio/multimedia form, at anytime after the class, or by use of a custom recorded data disk.

The method can allow the use of other published material, produced by a licensed user of the said software, that may from time to time be published and marketed in a compatible machine readable format.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of learning and/or teaching a language for use in an educational/teaching institution using software installed on a computer to manipulate server stored multimedia data over a local area network within the institution, the software allowing at least one tutor to record multimedia/audio course content on the server at least once first in the form of a written/typed word or phrase and then orally entering at least one the said word in a second language to thereby provide a database for a student or second person to learn the second language.

The method can allow the tutor to modify the server based database according to the needs of a class and to invite or require multimedia/audio responses from a student or students in the form of homework, assignments or required practice.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a language , learning method and system, the method including the steps of: a tutor entering at least one written/typed word or phrase in one language into a recording means; the tutor entering orally at least once the at least one word or phrase in a second language into the recording means so that the tutor and/or a student or second person have a database usable for learning the second language.

The method can be used in a class situation or in an individual situation between a single pupil and tutor.

Preferably in a teaching situation the tutor enters one or more written (typed) word(s) or phrase(s) in the native language of the student/pupil into an electronic storage system such as a computer after which the tutor records the word(s) or phrase(s) into the electronic storage system or computer after translating it into a language to be learnt. Preferably the tutor records the word(s) or phrase(s) at a slow spoken pace then perhaps records the word(s) or phrase(s) a second time at normal speaking pace.

The audio recording is stored in the computer or electronic storage system or medium in such a way that it is associated with the written phrase(s) in the student's own language to enable recall of the recording.

The tutor can tailor the recording(s) according to his/her individual teaching method or chosen textbook.

An advantage of the invention is that over a learning period or term a database of instruction material is built up by each student and/or tutor for future use by the student and/or tutor.

A student can review at any time and as often as he/she wishes the written word(s) or phrase(s) and can replay the audio recording at the click of a computer mouse until the pronunciation of the word(s)/phrase(s) is(are) learnt correctly. The student can also during this review, record his or her own speech and compare the replay with that of the instructor. It is envisaged that the computer programme can incorporate a phonetic comparison mechanism or package which indicates whether the phrase(s)/word(s) is(are) being pronounced correctly by the student.

Adoption of the method gives the student a method of reviewing the spoken/oral language in the absence of his/her tutor. Similarly, the student can review a textbook with the aid of the computer to check on correct pronunciation. The meaning of the oral language is always clear because of the close association of the written word(s)/phrase(s) in the student's native language which can be set up to appear at the same time on a computer screen when the system is used.

If a tutor feels it appropriate he/she can, as well as entering the word(s)/phrase(s) in the native language of the student, also enter a written translation of the word(s)/phrase(s) in the language to be learnt. For example, in a situation where the language uses a different script such as Chinese characters then they can be set to appear as opposed or as well as the native language.

The student can use this tool as a basis for review of a written language.

The tutor may elect to prepare material for the class by entering written phrase(s)/word(s) and audio on a networked computer system before hand, or enter written phrase(s)/word(s) and audio in front of a group of students in a class or combination of both.

Students sitting at the networked computers then have this material immediately available for their own use. An advantage in this situation is that each student can make his/her personal annotations, oral input etc which is set up to only be available to the particular student. Each student is therefore able to use the system in a way that suits him/her while collectively gaining input from the tutor.

The method enables each student to undertake the following operations:

1. create an audio tape or CD for use while driving a car or for home study;

2. take a copy of the data for use on his/her own computer for home study;

3. search written fields in the created database to find particular words; 4. print out lessons or portions thereof;

5. adjust the audio volume to suit depending on whether earphones or speakers are used;

6. make additions and annotations to the written text in his/her own language;

7. record in audio on computer the phrase in his/her native language so that for each word or phrase there is an audio recording both in the student's native language and the language to be learnt;

8. create an audio CD or tape which steps through selected portions of the recorded database and creates an audio recording in the following format: learning language phrases repeated twice slowly; phrases repeated in the native language; and phrases repeated in the learning language at normal speed. Or any other permutation according to the students needs and preferences

The tutor/student can index and group words and phrases, for example to refer to the word/phrase whereabouts in a chosen text, or can index and group according to subject/type of word/phrase, for example noun/verb etc.

The tutor or an educational institution can compile, and publish/market suitable textbooks and CD disks with prepared lessons already recorded, and/or the applicant could invite third parties to market the same.

A useful addition to the activities of the student is to review the tutors input by listening to the recorded word(s) or phrase(s), practising the pronunciation by continual repetitions, reading the native language script and speaking the word(s)/phrase(s) in the learning language and checking correctness by reviewing the tutor's recorded speech.

As used herein the expression personal computer means any known portable, handheld or standalone computing device and the expression audio tape and/or CD means any electronically readable storage medium.

Further aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following description and drawings which are given by way of example only.

Description of the drawings

An example of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an image of a computer screen showing the home page of a software version of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an image of the front screen shown in Figure 1 showing a student logging in to a language tutorial for a course called Chinese 101 ;

Figure 3 shows an example of tutorial within the course Chinese 101 ;

Figure 4 shows a further step in the tutorial in Chinese 101 as shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 shows an image showing a Sound object voice file being replayed during the tutorial in Chinese 101 shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 shows the image shown in Figure 4 with the point size of the Chinese characters increased;

Figure 7 shows an image of a language navigator for use in the course of Chinese 101 ; Figure 8 shows an image of a student selecting a Text-book called Student Directory in the course of Chinese 101 ;

Figure 9 shows an image created when a student decides to record and create a CD of a lesson in Chinese 101 showing the selected recording and playback speeds;

Figure 10 shows an image of the next step in the recording procedure started in the image shown in Figure 9, where the recording is being played back for checking purposes before either recording an audio tape or burning a CD; and

Figure 11 shows the creation of a data disk by the student to allow him/her to take the class material home and revisit it on his/her home computer.

Description of a preferred example A particular example of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. This teaching system addresses weaknesses found in traditional methods for language instruction.

Although the system assists in written language it can be used between any two languages in the world, and caters for any script including Chinese or Japanese. The systems strengths lie in the ability of the student to access the material introduced in class, both in written and auditory form or multimedia form, at any time. The student can then practice the spoken content of the lesson until he or she is satisfied that the pronunciation and intonation is correct and is able to greet the next days learning with the confidence in the spoken content.

The net result will be an output of students who are both competent and confident in their use of the spoken language. The student has his or her own area where he/she can:

1. Practice the spoken material by listening to the tutor's example.

2. Record his/her own speech and listen to that recording for comparison with the tutor's example. 3. Re-record and practice until satisfied that it is an accurate pronunciation.

4. Type in translations to assist in identifying the recording material etc.

5. The students can see the tutor's material, but cannot access any other student material.

Furthermore the system allows auditory interchange between tutor and student.

The tutor may introduce material into the computer in the form of a written and auditory assignment.

This assignment can be accessed individually by all the students in the class.

Although the students can read and listen to the material the tutor has introduced, the student cannot alter this in any way.

For example, if the assignment is in the form of a question written and recorded in the learning language, the students can record the reply in the learning language.

The final recording and written material entered by each student can be accessed by the tutor for assessment/encouragement from the tutor's own computer.

The student may select material from the course for recording onto audio tape or audio CD for use while driving or general listening. The student may select material from the course for recording of a data CD so the material may be taken home for use on the student's home computer.

The student may select material from the course for printing

Written fields on screen may be increased in size at will to assist the tutor in the introduction of written material in a class room situation when using a big screen or data projector.

Most importantly, there is no need for laborious searches for words or phrases on your tape recorder.

The system allows selection by Textbook, Chapter, Page, individual phrase and general searches for particular words. This is instantaneous and can handle as many as 500,000 records.

The system can be used in many different ways. Load material and use it in the way that best suits the level, skills and aims of a class.

To see how the system works the first screen seen when the package is opened is that shown in Figure 1.

The administrator/tutor can create and delete new classes and students by use of the drop-down menu as shown. The administrator can access all Tutor Material and Student material. The tutor can create and delete students and can only access the class material and the students of that class using the fields as shown in Figure 2.

The Student can always see the Tutor's Area arrow 1 in Figure 3.

Both the Student and the Tutor can access the Student Area arrow 2 in Figure 3.

The student is given a password and enrolled into the system by the tutor.

The student can see:

The class material for the class in which he is enrolled.

His personal student area 2, always associated with the material introduced by the tutor.

The Student cannot see:

Material for a class in which he is not enrolled; and any other students personal area.

The student can: log on with his private authorised password listen to the phrases recorded by the tutor by left clicking the mouse button on the

"Play" buttons 3 in the Tutor's area.

Record his own voice in practice by right clicking the mouse on the "Play" button(s) 4 in the Student Area. Listen and compare results with the Tutor's recording.

Write comments in his own language for his own reference as is convenient for him/her. The student cannot: change the Tutor's Data in anyway; or see or change another students data.

As shown in Figure 5 a right mouse button click on the PLAY button 4 allows the recording and/or editing of the speech.

A left click on the play button 4 allows a student to hear the speech at any time.

If a tutor wants to use a big screen or projector for your class or lecture it is possible as shown in Figure 6 to choose the font size of any field for comfortable class viewing.

A navigator ( Figure 7) allows the Administrator to select class and student. ,

The Tutor to select the student and the Tutor can hide responses from the student. Anyone can select the Textbook, Chapter and page from the material.

Anyone can search for a phrase.

Anyone can record an AUDIO CD or tape of the selected material. Anyone can record a DATA CD of the selected material. Anyone can printout the written part of the lesson.

A tutor or student can customise their recording using the tools shown in Figure 8. First of all use the navigator to select the material you wish to record. For example in Figure 8 the student is in the class "Chinese 101" and has chosen the TextBook called "Student Dictionary". When the mouse button is clicked to make an Audio CD or tape, or to make a Data CD or just to print out the written material, the person will be using all the material on every page that has been entered under this heading.

The student could restrict it to a selected chapter, page or even phrase if required

The student or tutor can record onto the CD each phrase up to four times (Figure 9).

If the tutor has recorded the phrase by speaking it slowly using the "Slow" Button and then at Normal speed using the "Normal" button and the student has recorded the translation in his/her native language in the first field of the student area, then the student can, for example, choose to hear the phrase spoken slowly twice, then spoken in his/her native language and then spoken in the learning language at conversational speed.

As shown in Figure 10 the custom recording can be played back before cutting your

CD, or alternatively by plugging an audio tape recorder into the sound output jack, recording a custom audio tape may be created at this stage.

In addition as shown in Figure 11 a personally cut CD can be created and taken home to a own computer. Just select the section of data required on the CD as if you were going to make an audio tape. Click on "Create Data CD", choose the directory where you can reach with your CD burner. At home slip the CD into the CD drive and use your administrator's password to log onto "Use CD". This enables you to have all your class material available at home. Advantages of the invention that can be expected as an educator: Students returning to a class with spoken and auditory material from the previous day fully understood and spoken perfectly.

Students who will emerge confident that their speech will be understood and will not hesitate to put it to good use.

Marked increase in pass rates and marks for international exams such as IELTS. Students showing more rapid progress to conversational skills in the chosen language. Enhanced reputation accumulating towards a school or educational organisation as successes accumulate. Quite quickly the student and/or will accumulate a body of material which can be reused for subsequent classes.

The student will have a record of his or her speech progress from the very first words spoken in the course until the current lesson.

Where in the foregoing description a particular known integer has been described it is envisaged that its mechanical or electronic equivalent can be substituted as if individually set forth herein.

A particular example of the invention has been described and it is envisaged that improvements and modifications can take place without departing from the scope of the attached claims.

Claims

1 A method for use in an educational/teaching institution, for learning and teaching a language, training speech and/or other aural/audio/multimedia communication methods using software installed on a computer to manipulate server stored multimedia data over a local area network within the institution, the software allowing at least one tutor to prepare, store, present and change multi-media/audio course content on the server according to the needs of a class and to invite or require multimedia/audio responses from a student or students in the form of homework, assignments or required practice.

2 A method as claimed in claim 1 which includes an administration module which integrates with a computer system of the teaching/educational institution to allow automatic designation of a student at enrolment, automatic database allocation and disk space and other administrative tasks such as password allocation.

3 A method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, further including an installable software package that can display, record and play audio and other multimedia designed in such a way to provide an invaluable aid to the teaching and learning of languages and other disciplines.

4 A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the software package allows a choice of fonts by the user and thereby allows typed input in fonts or characters of any script, including Asian and other eastern writing systems. A method as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4 wherein part of the software package allows the choice of screen fonts sizes by the user and thereby allows use in the classroom with the aid of a data projector or similar aid.

A method as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 5 when dependent on claim 2 wherein further engineering of the software of the administration module allows an overall administrator to designate multiple classes and course instances according to the needs of the institution thereby allowing as many different courses and classes and students to simultaneously use the database and access the correct material without hindrance from each other as is needed by the requirements of the institution.

A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 6 when dependent on claim 3 wherein the method is an aid generally to the teaching/learning of languages and other communication methods, and uses audio/multimedia to reinforce the teaching of the institution and deliberately avoids having a software system create or otherwise synthesize responses or carry out calculations as to correct grammar or provide any other output other than that entered by the administrator, tutor (s) and student(s) except to give comment on a comparison between a tutor's rendition and an attempt by a student of the same word or phrase.

A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 7 when dependent on claim 3 which further allows searching, indexing and sectioning of course material under titles, chapters and pages allowing instant retrieval as well as searching for individual words and phrases both in the tutor's prepared data and the student's response/practice data. A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 8 when dependent on claim 3 which further allows the tutor to record multi media data such as an audio file(phrases in a language to be learnt) and or pictures or a video to further reinforce the audio.

A method as claimed in claim 9 in which the software is further engineered to allow the tutor to monitor the responses and progress of the student by indexing all student input to the correct and relevant section/page on the tutor's material and therefore allowing the tutor to require responses both written and audio/multimedia from the students in support of their progress and engineering the software so that the tutor can visit each student's area in turn, be instantly presented with the student material relevant to that which the tutor has selected in the tutor area.

A method as claimed in claim 9 which further allows the tutor to prepare conversations (which can in their intrinsic nature be questions and responses), on a phrase by phrase basis and to require the student to provide responses.

A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the tutor's response example can be hidden from the student and shown at will to all a class by the tutor (once the student content has been assessed), for further self assessment by the student.

A method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 12 which further allows the student (or tutor) to hide the written phrases in order to test and assess understanding of the audio/multimedia output. A teaching or educational system which when properly installed in an institution, enables both written and audio/multimedia content of a class to be visited by a student or students in their own time using either a computer/terminal or other intelligent device connected to a Local Area Network of the institution, or by recording a data CD of a selection of course work and using this data on a home or other personal computer which has been loaded with a licensed copy of an installable software package that can display, record and play audio and other multimedia designed in such a way to provide an invaluable aid to the teaching and learning of languages and other disciplines or in audio format for use in a personal media player.

A method as claimed in claim 14 which includes further engineering the software to allow the student(s) to custom record selections of the course content and their responses on audio/multimedia tapes or disks for use in practice in their own time, such as while driving a car or use with a portable CD or tape player.

A method as claimed in claim 14 or claim 15 wherein the teaching or educational system is one that can also be installed in a students Personal Computer to allow re-visitation of the class content in written/ audio/multimedia form, at anytime after the class, or by use of a custom recorded data disk.

A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims that allows the use of other published material, produced by a licensed user of the said software, that may from time to time be published and marketed in a compatible machine readable format. A method of learning and/or teaching a language for use in an educational/teaching institution using software installed on a computer to manipulate server stored multimedia data over a local area network within the institution, the software allowing at least one tutor to record multi-media/audio course content on the server at least once first in the form of a written/typed word or phrase and then orally entering at least one the said word in a second language to thereby provide a database for a student or second person to learn the second language.

A method as claimed in claim 18 wherein the tutor can modify the server based database according to the needs of a class and to invite or require multimedia/audio responses from a student or students in the form of homework, assignments or required practice.

A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and substantially as herein before described with reference to the drawings and examples.