| Popis: |
In the context of developing digital applications for teaching and learning purposes, we present a research-development project in language didactics involving an interactive edutainment digital book for the discovery of English for 4-7-year-olds. The aim of this article is to report on our research protocol during the evaluation phase of the first chapters of the game. Our research question at this stage deals with the data needed to inform the development of a digital English learning tool for playschool pupils in an iterative improvement process. From a theoretical perspective, we approach this problem through the lens of digital literacy, at the interconnection of three dimensions, namely technological literacy, meaning-making literacy, and interaction literacy. Basing ourselves on a literature review, we define the interactive edutainment digital book around elements such as the sensory-motor dimension, the association of the immersive environment and interactivity making this device a potential vector towards constructivist learning. In the case of our digital book, the progression through the action adapts to each individual since it allows the children to listen to the dialogues as many times as they want, and replay a scene on demand; the successive scenes each correspond to a learning objective, and feedback is provided in the form of a reaction from the character involved in the action; the game memorises the player's achievements and their progress in the narrative, which are then presented to them within their dedicated space. We present the data collection tools, adapted to a young audience. More particularly, on top of the video collection and the grid-based observation, the emotions chart is used to collect the answers to the questionnaire, and the software harvesting used to collect the information concerning the actions and their timing. We give some preliminary results as examples, as a way of putting this protocol into discussion. Empathic identification is the primary intention in the digital book discussed here. The hypotheses to be explored in more detail in future are therefore the identification with the main character, who is also confronted with learning English. Additionally, the effects of this identification in terms of self-efficacy, in relation with the foreign language and digital literacy is taken into account. In other words, does the young pupil's use of the game allow them to gain confidence in their ability to enter language and digital literacy learning? Our research question leads us to propose a definition of the interactive edutainment digital book as a device for exemplification and pedagogical and didactic exploration in action research. |
