Education | Higher education » Thesis Proposal, Team ILL

Source: http://www.doksinet Thesis Proposal Team ILL We pledge on our honor that we have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment. 1 Source: http://www.doksinet Abstract The purpose of this paper is to identify a lack of educational complements to English as a Second Language curriculums and propose that our team create such a complement in the form of an interactive, multi-player computer game. Through literature research, we found that language acquisition is a complex process that requires the understanding of both teaching and learning styles. We hope to continue such research in order to find the most effective teaching style that will appeal to the most students. We also found through research that games can be effective teachers; we hope to incorporate characteristics such as goals and both artificial and human interaction in order to create a game that is both educational and fun. 2 Source: http://www.doksinet Section I Recently, there has

been a dramatic increase in the number of students enrolled in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes (Kindler, 2002). Due to time limitations, ESOL classes can only cover certain material. In order for students to learn the maximum amount of English possible in the time given; there is a need for educational tools that further expose students to the English language. One such tool is educational software, a technology that is becoming more prevalent in language education with proven success (Wood, 2001). Although the use of educational software is ideal for ESOL classes, it has not yet been widely utilized. Therefore, the question becomes: “How effective is an interactive multiplayer computer game as an educational tool to complement an ESOL curriculum?” We seek to address this question by creating our own game software to increase English proficiency, testing our product on several groups of ESOL students, and determining the game’s effects by analyzing our

collected data. We will consider the following sub-problems: how to teach effectively, how to engage our students, and how to create a game that adapts to students’ individual needs. Learning any language requires both oral and written communication; listening, reading, speaking, and writing must be represented in our game. Games that are more entertaining will help students retain material longer by encouraging them to play more often. Thus we must focus on our game’s entertainment value (Forman, 2003). We must consider that every student will have different learning styles, beginning English proficiency, native language, and external English exposure. Our software must be flexible enough to adjust to each individual student's learning capabilities and still provide a fun, challenging, 3 Source: http://www.doksinet educational experience. When we develop our software and administer it to ESOL students, we must address these factors to successfully answer our research

question. 4 Source: http://www.doksinet Section II Language acquisition is a fundamentally complex process based upon more than just rote memorization of vocabulary and grammatical principles. According to Stewart and File (2007), there are three stages of language acquisition. The first of these stages is when the learner is only capable of direct word and phrase translation. In the second stage, the learner is capable of a more flexible and varied conversational style. Finally in the third stage, the learning is capable of native or near native speech. Brown (2007) says that while both adults and children are capable of learning a second language, children are more likely to achieve the third stage of language acquisition while most adult learners cease acquiring language before reaching native or near native speech. In order to reach the third stage of language acquisition, Pennington and Richards (1986) find that pronunciation “should bepart of the means for creating both

referential and interactional meaning.” This means that pronunciation is not just about how individual words and sentences are said, but rather how the words work together to create meaning. We hope to guide users through these stages in our game so that they achieve a maximum understanding of the language’s fundamental principles. Addressing student learning styles is necessary to reach the third stage of language acquisition. According to Felder and Henriques (1995), there are five aspects of a student’s learning style. The first aspect is the student’s predisposition toward receiving sensory or intuitive information. The second aspect involves the ease at which students interpret visual or auditory sensory information. According to Forman (2003), learning is enhanced through sensory information garnered through experience. The third aspect of a student’s learning style involves hands-on activities or personal reflection (Felder and 5 Source: http://www.doksinet

Henriques, 2005). According to Yip and Kwan (2006), the use of educational games gives students a sense of autonomy in the learning process, which effectively addresses the hands-on learning style. The fourth aspect presents students’ preferences to learn either in increments or all at once (Felder and Henriques, 2005). Finally, the fifth aspect says students prefer either inductive or deductive learning. In our game, we plan to give users a variety of ways to use their learning abilities. That way, the game will be able to adapt to as many different learning styles as possible. Students must be motivated in order to effectively learn a second language. According to Stewart and File (2007), small steps in learning keep a student motivated and help build confidence. Following along with this logic, Kelsay, Reeder, and Swerdlik (1985) echo the importance of a positive attitude while learning. Yip and Kwan (2006) note that simpler programs build students’ confidence more rapidly

because their goals are more easily understood and accomplished. Therefore, games that require significant mechanical skill or time management on the part of the user distracts them, lowering attention levels and ultimately reducing retention of material. Our game will contain series of small, easily followed goals that keep students attentive while they learn. In addition to learning styles and student attention/motivation, interpersonal relationships can affect a student’s learning ability. Daniel, Schwier, and Ross (2007) find that group learning produces three primary results: learning material from preconstructed goals, learning material from unprompted participant-to-participant interactions, and the formation of relationships. These relationships can provide additional motivation to the learner by fostering a more comfortable learning environment. Yip and Kwan (2006) further note that students can learn effectively in a 6 Source: http://www.doksinet virtual interactive

world, which allows communication with both technology and other people. Following this logic, our game will have an online component that allows users to interface with other users in real time. This should result in the reinforcement of previously learned knowledge while at the same time creating new ideas. This virtual world presents technical complications in developing the mechanism for this interaction. It requires both a system for working in the desired language correctly and an artificial intelligence that is able to provide support for the player. Our game will need to implement these requirements. Translation software is used by computer assisted language learning programs in order to provide feedback to the success of the student. Aspects of this software include pronunciation and content analysis; each offers challenges in implementation. According to (Pennington, 1999), Computer Aided Pronunciation (CAP) is a faster analysis of the input speech and does not have the

problems of mishearing, judgment calls or losing patience. There is, however, an inherent problem of aspects of language not being able to be analyzed by the speech’s sound wave(Pennington, 1999). CAP has therefore found more successes in ESOL where there is more of a focus on context than correctness of pronunciation (Pennington, 1999). There are, however, aspects of current language analysis software that can be addressed. An example includes differentiating an acceptable speech pattern from actual error because of too strict a baseline of comparison(Pennington, 1999) also suggests exploring databases of pronunciation in order to improve the set of acceptable speech patterns. Rochet’s software for teaching French vowels to native speakers of English seems to do so successfully (Pennington, 1999). Analyzing the student’s speech as a test of their performance using this mechanism will provide our game with the additional data of this 7 Source: http://www.doksinet aspect of

language learning. CAP addresses the analysis of pronunciation as an integral part of language. In addition to pronunciation, content analysis is required to determine if the grammar and word usage is correct.(Wang & Seneff, 2007) describes a Java web game that asks for translation of stated English statements into Mandarin Chinese. They envision this as the first stage of a dialogue system resembling an interactive immersive environment which our game hopes to achieve for ESOL students (Wang & Seneff, 2007). The analysis takes place by taking the English prompt and constructing a reference Chinese translation using a grammar library for both English and Chinese (Wang & Seneff, 2007). This gives two inputs in translation to compare using a grammar reference library and key-value assignments to give comparable forms to both (Wang & Seneff, 2007). This technique is part of Natural Language Processing (NLP), the translation of normal human language to a standardized form

for the computer and vice versa offering great hope for human-computer interaction (Shaalan). Using this technique, our game will gather data on the student’s performance in a quantifiable manner while they are playing. This technique, however, still gives many false negatives and positives due to imprecision in the reference libraries, and must be handled by skipping the question in cases of repeated false negatives (Wang & Seneff, 2007). The software then increases or decreases difficulty by varying amounts depending on the average number of attempts required at each level(Wang & Seneff, 2007). To support the player an artificial intelligence mechanism provides personalized, dynamic help for the potential problems the student may have. The use of contextsensitive help in both games and other electronic media is one very important form of this 8 Source: http://www.doksinet feature. In Context-sensitive Help in CALL, Trude Heift conducted an experiment using E-tutor, an

online CALL program(2006). The program contained a variety of exercises in German, and help was provided based on the user’s errors. Due to the large variety of errors that may be encountered, specific help responses are not written in manually; instead help responses are generated dynamically based upon the specific error and a prebuilt template. The ESOL students will also have a large range of errors that will mean that dynamic help responses using a template will also be useful in our game when implementing the in-game support system. As expected, the frequency with which users accessed help is also largely dependent on the proficiency of the users in the German language. The study suggests that a dynamic response should involve more than whether a particular answer is right or wrong, but also provide help tailored to the users. In Serious Games for Language Learning: How Much Game, How Much AI?, Johnson, Vilhjalmsson, and Marsella ((Johnson, Hannes Vilhjalmsson, & Stacy

Marsella, 2005)explores how artificial intelligence can be used with a Tactical Language Training System (TLTS). This study’s purpose is to analyze the use of a simulated Arab environment featuring AI characters. The game play involves the manipulation of a 3D character with a guide and a hypertext glossary for each lesson along with a constant flow of action to engage the player. AI is used with the TLTS in the form of feedback, specifically in the form of a “trust bar” informing users of their progress in the game. This allows the artificial intelligence to support the user through the game. In addition to developing technology to create an interactive environment, data should be collected from the game. In Unpacking the potential of educational gaming: A new Tool for gaming Research, Wideman, Owston, Brown, Kushniruk, Ho, and Pitts also 9 Source: http://www.doksinet explores how gaming can be designed to engage users. The study involved a program called the Virtual

Usability Laboratory (VULab), which can be configured to record certain information from any game in real time via an open internet connection. Applying this to a game called TRIVIA, the researchers gathered data about potential errors as the users experienced them and a realistic depiction of user response to the game (Wideman et al., 2007) The field of Computer Assisted Language Learning involves linguistic, motivational and technical aspects. These must all be implemented for our interactive educational game in order for the game to be successful. 10 Source: http://www.doksinet Section III – Methodology In order to create an interactive multiplayer computer game for that purpose, there are three sub-problems the team must first address. The first subproblem concerns the issue that students respond best to different teaching styles. Thus, we must find an effective teaching method that will help the greatest number of students learn. The teaching style we select will depend on

comprehension of the various topics desired by the school system(s) in which we are testing. Our second sub-problem focuses on the variety of student learning styles. For example, some students learn better when presented with visuals and images while others might learn more from audio or hands-on experience. Successfully addressing this problem can greatly improve the efficacy of the game; a program that molds itself to the student’s learning style could emulate the effectiveness of a private tutor. The third sub-problem is of long-term importance; we will take into account how we can capture and use our students’ attention so that they will retain the material presented. We want students to want to learn the material; games can help create this enthusiasm for learning. People are more willing to learn while playing a game because they are more relaxed and motivated to be successful (Prensky, 2001). We plan to design a game that is educational, enjoyable, universally accessible,

versatile, and designed to complement a middle school ESOL curriculum. The game’s aim is to immerse the player in an English-speaking environment, while enabling both cooperative learning between students as well as individual instruction. We plan to test its effectiveness using a variety of methods: the the school system’s standardized assessment tests, retention rate of language skills as tested by the game, interviews of students before 11 Source: http://www.doksinet and after the game is implemented, and interviews of school staff and teachers involved in the supervision of student use of the game. We must assume several things in order to proceed. We are assuming that our students will have the capacity to learn a new language, specifically English. We are assuming that there is a need for additional tools to aid current ESOL curriculums and teaching methods. We are assuming that the use of ESOL learning techniques such as demonstration by concrete gestures and visual

aids, implementation of consistent and repeated routines and utilization of repeated phrases and consistent language will benefit students who are attempting to learn English (Mathes et al. 2007) Furthermore, we are assuming that there is a need for further educational research to ensure that students are achieving sufficient levels of literacy (Garcia et al. 2007) Finally, regarding our prospective computer game itself, we are assuming that games based on multi-player interaction, whose dynamic qualities, such as environment simulation, can elicit genuine emotions and are an effective and popular medium of influence for players (Squire, 2003). The software’s effectiveness will be judged based upon the quantitative and the qualitative data we collect as we conduct our research. Our quantitative data will be test scores provided by the game and surveys distributed to both students and teachers. We will be implementing our own tests which will be integrated into the game. These tests

will take the form of puzzles and other activities. The game will also send back data about what material is the easiest and what material is the hardest to learn. Student and teacher surveys will be conducted both before and after the game’s implementation. These surveys will include questions about students’ perceived levels of 12 Source: http://www.doksinet English comprehension, amount of daily exposure to English, and use of English at school and at home. Qualitative data will be collected through interviews which will be conducted with administrative staff and ESOL instructors from individual schools. These interviews may also be conducted before and after game testing in order to gauge the perceived success of our research. Students will be interviewed prior to testing on the computer games they routinely play and the reasons behind why they play these particular games. We have chosen to use interviews instead of focus groups because individual interviews yield more

information and information gathered is unaffected by group opinions (Leedy et al, 2005). The game will collect and report data on student performance to the team via the Internet. Student confidentiality will be kept by the use of randomly generated ID numbers. The game will track user statistics over the entire testing period, providing a great variety of data that can be used to gauge the efficacy of the game and the progress of individual students. Unobtrusive testing will reduce the impact of test anxiety, and will give us detailed views of students' progress, rather than limiting us to a snapshot view of the students’ starting and stopping points. However, this form of data collection constrains us to data regarding the use of English solely within the scope of the game rather than actual everyday usage. The game’s test may be supplemented by the county’s normal testing methods, giving us an external reference to calibrate our internal data and another metric of

overall success. 13 Source: http://www.doksinet Survey data will be useful because it allows us to collect standardized, easily analyzed opinions (Burns, 2000). It has the limitation of flexibility as responses are constrained to a possibly misunderstood Likert scale. Interviews are more a more flexible approach to qualitative data collection; interviewers’ ability to change questions when and where appropriate and follow up on certain questions allows for more comprehensive responses (Burns, 2000). However, interviews cannot be easily analyzed and may be biased by the observer effect. We expect to confront a number of confounding variables. Students’ background knowledge and experience will be taken into consideration by the analysis of knowledge growth, instead of knowledge level. Students’ native language may have an impact on the effectiveness of our game, which will be tested for by statistical analysis comparing the performance of each student as compared to the

language spoken at home. Computer literacy is a significant factor which cannot be easily sidestepped. According to Liu et al (2002), “lack of computer literacy may place novice computer users at a disadvantage.” The Hawthorne effect, changes in the behavior of research study participants due the knowledge that they are being studied, (Leedy et al, 2005), may be a significant concern in our research, as the implementation of a new, entertaining educational program may inflate results. The main cure for the Hawthorne effect is repeated and prolonged exposure; if we are able to test our program over several semesters, the Hawthorne effects’ impact will be minimized. Our use of both test scores and self-reported opinions will allow us to detect any discrepancy between the game’s perceived level of success and the actual efficacy. Merely evaluating self-reported opinions would be insufficient, as a student could say 14 Source: http://www.doksinet “My language improved through

interacting with an e-mail pal,’ without considering that he or she may be using a great amount of language incorrectly” (Liu et al., 2002) Different teaching environments may misconstrue the data; if we have a fairly large number of teachers, and enough students per teacher, we will be able to separate our software’s effects from the teachers’ effects. Additionally, we acknowledge that our data may also be misconstrued by the varying amounts of time students have spent in the United States, as well as student demographics, such as ethnicity and family’s economic status. Due to a team member connection and conversation with public school officials, we hope to begin testing in Anne Arundel County and will need to research specifically the student demographics of the specific tools we test in this county. Other counties may be used for testing depending on successful contact with these public school systems. The results of this project will provide insight into the fields of

educational gaming, alternative teaching theory, cooperative and community learning, and the acquisition of English as a second language for foreign speakers. We anticipate that our research will aid the integration of more effective second language education tools in classrooms. We have identified our customer and user as ESOL programs in the school systems of the state of Maryland, specifically Anne Arundel School system. Currently, ESOL programs focus on student’s ability to function in the classroom. Everyday communication is mostly ignored. Cathy Nelson, ESOL coordinator for Anne Arundel County Public Schools explained that students who participate in this program are taught classroom vocabulary; however words and phrases used in everyday situations are often learned from individuals outside the classroom (phone conversation, October 11, 2007). 15 Source: http://www.doksinet Thus our game is focused on improving general everyday communication. All instructions in the game

will be given in both English and picture form. We plan on using pictures in order to make our game independent of the player’s native language. Our game will be represented by a small virtual world that will allow students to learn basic English through a series of quests (a multi-step puzzle or mini-game activity). After students feel comfortable with the English vocabulary presented in the game, they can connect to the online version of the virtual world where they can interact with other students and computer controlled characters. This will allow them to practice words and phrases that are used in everyday English but might not have been taught in their ESOL classes. We plan on designing a side-scrolling game: the background will be static (nonchanging) while the foreground will be focused on the player avatar as it moves around. Due to a limited amount of time we have to complete our game design, the game will have 2-D graphics. The graphics are based off the Korean online game

“Maplestory” (Nexon Corporation Maplestory). Currently, we are planning to have our virtual world simulate a small town or city. This will allow us to give student users a variety of virtual places to explore and people to practice talking to. The game will be separated into sections such as a store or park In order to move in between sections, players will walk through “portals” that connect sections. Once the student connects to the online server, they will be able to mingle with other students in an educational atmosphere. Avatars will be able to communicate to each other through text displayed in speech bubbles. The text they type will be checked using a parser to make sure it is correct English. If non-English words are detected, the text will 16 Source: http://www.doksinet be “censored” by black bars blocking the text, encouraging players to use correct terms so that they can efficiently communicate with other players. Single-person quests might require the player

to practice pronunciation using a microphone. Due to technical complexity, players will not be able to talk to other players using a microphone. We intend to do further research of available literature so we can create a game that will appeal to both males and females. While the goals of our study are quite lofty, we are well aware that we are restricted by several limitations. First, we will only be using Maryland standards for teaching ESOL students because we plan on only testing our product inside the state of Maryland. This could possibly limit the future appeal of our game as well as the applicability of the game outside of the state. Additionally, we have to work with the ESOL curriculum that is already in place in the school systems that we will be working with and have to design a game that is a complement to this particular curriculum. If we decide that the curriculum itself is flawed, there is no way for us to change that. Also, we are limited by the amount of time we have

to test our product; we have to have completed a successful study by the time we receive our Gemstone citation in the spring of 2010. Furthermore, many school systems make use of outdated computer systems that cannot handle the types of complicated graphics than many state-of-the-art computer games incorporate. We have to construct our product to be able to function properly on the computers that the school systems already have in place. Finally, the design of our game will be limited by the skill level of our team members because we neither have the funds nor the time to be able to utilize professionals in designing our game. 17 Source: http://www.doksinet Appendix I – Timeline / Budget Fall Semester 2007 • • • Form sub-teams Know the technical specifications of the middle school computers Decide on the programming language for the game Winter Semester 2007-2008 • • • • • • • Meet with representatives from the Anne Arundel County Public School Board of

Education Meet with Anne Arundel County ESOL teachers Visit ESOL classrooms Have basic game engines up and running Complete basic designs of the game setting Begin developing the curriculum for the game Begin storyboarding Spring Semester 2008 • • • • • • • • • Formalize research proposal and show it to team librarian Finalize research methods and instruments Identify experts to provide feedback Identify meetings/journals/conferences that could be a forum for research Continue Lit Review Find funding/apply for funding Develop budget Design team website Get IRB Approval for: o Surveys/Interview Questions o Pretests/Posttests o Consent forms o Schools/classes that will take part in both Beta/Final tests January and February • • • All basic game engines completed Decide on mini-games that will be aspects of the larger game Have storyboards completed March • • • First draft of script completed Graphics required for functionality completed Basic music in

progress April • • • • Integrate script with the game Basic graphics integrated into the game Make progress on the extra graphics and music Make progress on developing the minigames 18 Source: http://www.doksinet May • • Alpha build of the game complete Website up and running Summer 2008 • • • Conduct Alpha testing within the team Finalize what schools/classes in which to perform the Beta Test Complete Beta build by fixing any software bugs, polishing the graphics and music, etc. Fall and Winter Semester 2008 • • • • • • • • • • • Beta Test o Pretest o Approximately 2-4 weeks of testing o Posttest o Survey Students, Interview and Survey Teachers about their opinions on the game Edit game based on Beta Test results Analyze data from Beta test for thesis and to help with the editing process Finalize procedures, classes involved, and any loose ends for the final test Apply for opportunity to present project at American Council for the

Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) annual conference Present at the Fall Colloquia Continue to update website Develop detailed outline of all five chapters of final thesis Continue lit review and begin drafting: o Chapter 1 - Intro of Problem and Justification of Study o Chapter 2 - Lit Review (with librarian’s assistance) Continue to find experts Continue to find meetings, conferences, journals, and sources of funding Spring Semester 2009 • • • • • • • • • Produce initial draft of Chapters 1,2, and 3 of the thesis (Introduction, Lit Review, and Methodology) Obtain feedback on thesis from experts Revise thesis based on feedback Present at Undergraduate Research Day Keep website updated Check in with librarian Continue to find meetings, conferences, journals, and sources of funding Final Testing o Pretest o Testing for the entire semester o Survey Students, Interview and Survey Teachers about their opinions on the game Begin data analysis 19 Source:

http://www.doksinet • Begin considering presenting at conferences and/or submitting to journals Fall Semester 2010 • • • • • • • • • Attend Gemstone senior orientation Complete data analysis early in the semester Draft Chapter 4 (Results) and 5 (Discussion and Conclusions) of the thesis Have complete draft of the thesis finished by the end of the semester Work on revising thesis based on our research results and suggestions from the experts Get librarian's help for thesis revisions Prepare a draft of the presentation for the Team Thesis Conference (occurs in February) Submit the names of five or more experts who have agreed to come to the thesis conference Keep website updated Spring Semester 2010 • • • • • • • Practice presentation at the rehearsal in early February Submit final team information Complete team thesis and submit draft to Gemstone Present and defend team thesis at the Team Thesis Conference Submit final thesis with changes

suggested by the discussants Make final update of team website Attend the Gemstone Citation Ceremony the day before University Commencement 20 Source: http://www.doksinet Budget • • • • • • Server-space (Hardware, bandwidth) o Web hosting/Server Distribution (CDs) o CDs o Jewel Cases / Labels – Commissions (if not provided by team members) o Artwork o Music o Voice-acting o Translation - 200 to 1000 words @ $.20 = Compensation (for participating in the study) o 100-300 students @ $2 = Printing costs (surveys, etc.) Transportation costs Total $300 $300 $45 $20 $25 $40-500 $0-100 $0-100 $0-100 $40-200 $200-600 $200-600 $100 $100 $785-1645 21 Source: http://www.doksinet References Brown, D. H (2007) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (pp271-299) White Plains, NY : Pearson Longman Burns, R.B (2000) Introduction to Research Methods Daniel, B. K, Schwier, RA, & Ross, H M (2007) Synthesis of the Process of Learning through Discourse in a Formal Virtual

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software support children's vocabulary development? Language Learning & Technology, 5(1), 166--201. http://llt.msuedu/vol5num1/wood/defaultpdf Yip, F. & Kwan, A (2006) Online vocabulary games as a tool for teaching and learning English vocabulary. Educational Media International, 43(3), 233-249 24