SBIR Phase I: Using Technology to Promote a Dual-language Approach to Personalizing English-language Learners' Growth in Literacy Ability

SBIR 第一阶段：利用技术促进双语言方法个性化英语学习者读写能力的增长

• 批准号: 1820041
• 负责人: Carl Swartz
• 金额: $ 21.17万
• 依托单位: High Road Learning Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-06-15 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1820041&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Using; Technology; Promote

This SBIR Phase 1 project will create an educational technology that accelerates the acquisition of foundational English language skills by children (4 to 10 years old), by melding English and Spanish language instruction, delivered via a personalized digital learning platform. Using state-of-the-art text-to-speech and speech-to-text engines, students that are English Language Learners (ELL) will engage in deliberate literacy practice across the four modalities of language (listening, speaking, reading, writing). Over the last decade, the number of ELL students enrolling in public schools has steadily increased while there remains a shortage of bilingual or certified ELL teachers. Technology can help these teachers to personalize instruction and extend the school day which in turn increases engaged learning time. Achieving college and career readiness is an economic imperative for all students, especially ELL students given the importance of English communication skills to career success. While developing technologies for use in classrooms by young children can be a risky proposition due to the nature of the modern classroom, the reward far outweighs the risk. This project will produce a high-impact technology solution designed for young children that integrates the latest text-to-speech and speech-to-text technologies and is grounded in sound research about language skill acquisition across the four modalities.The key innovation of this SBIR Phase 1 project is a plurilinguistic (e.g., Spanish and English) approach to literacy development across the four modalities of language (e.g., reading, writing, speaking, listening) where young students (aged 4-10 years old) are immersed in personalized learning experiences specifically tailored to support and accelerate language development. The first research goal is to test the feasibility for using and adapting proprietary English and Spanish language text-to-speech and speech-to-text engines with young children. The second research goal is to examine the impact of a dual-language personalized learning platform on children?s acquisition of foundational listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Participants will be ELL students whose first language is Spanish. The research is based on a plurilinguistic framework for second language acquisition; researchers hypothesize that a dual-language application that leverages students' first language to learn English will score significantly higher on independent measures of foundational literacy skills and self-efficacy for learning compared to students who are using an English-only personalized learning application. A mechanism of growth may be the amount of time students are immersed in deliberate practice of literacy skills. A dual-language personalized learning platform has the potential to extend teacher-led literacy instruction and increase the amount of time students spend engaged in learning English.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

SBIR第一阶段项目将创建一种教育技术，通过融合英语和西班牙语教学，通过个性化的数字学习平台提供，加速儿童（4至10岁）获得基础英语语言技能。使用最先进的文本到语音和语音到文本引擎，英语学习者（ELL）的学生将在四种语言模式（听，说，阅读，写）中进行有意识的识字练习。在过去的十年中，在公立学校注册的ELL学生人数稳步增加，而双语或认证的ELL教师仍然短缺。技术可以帮助这些教师个性化教学，延长上课时间，从而增加参与学习的时间。实现大学和职业准备是所有学生，特别是ELL学生的经济当务之急，因为英语沟通技能对职业成功的重要性。虽然由于现代课堂的性质，开发幼儿在课堂上使用的技术可能是一个有风险的提议，但回报远远超过风险。该项目将为幼儿设计一个高影响力的技术解决方案，该解决方案集成了最新的文本到语音和语音到文本技术，并基于对四种模式的语言技能习得的合理研究。SBIR第一阶段项目的关键创新是多语言（例如，西班牙语和英语）的扫盲方法，阅读、写、说、听），让青少年学生（4-10岁）沉浸在专门为支持和加速语言发展而量身定制的个性化学习体验中。第一个研究目标是测试使用和适应专有的英语和西班牙语文本到语音和语音到文本引擎与幼儿的可行性。第二个研究目标是考察双语个性化学习平台对儿童的影响。基本的听、说、阅读和写技能的获得。参与者将是第一语言为西班牙语的ELL学生。该研究基于第二语言习得的多语言框架;研究人员假设，利用学生的第一语言学习英语的双语应用程序在基础识字技能和学习自我效能的独立测量中得分显着更高，与使用仅英语个性化学习应用程序的学生相比。增长的机制可能是学生沉浸在识字技能的刻意练习中的时间量。双语个性化学习平台有可能扩大教师主导的识字教学，增加学生花在学习英语上的时间。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。