First used by the cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner, scaffolding of learning refers to the ways in which adults hold aspects of an environment constant, allowing a learner to focus on the element of learning which is being acquired. Such scaffolding can be gradually withdrawn, allowing a learner to operate independently. A frequently-used example is the way in which some story books for children will follow a fixed syntactic pattern from page to page and introduce only one word or phrase on each succeeding page. The term “emotional scaffolding” is used in Project Listen’s Reading Tutor research in a more general sense to refer to the user interface’s provision of emotional support such as praise and encouragement to users during interactions with the program.
Published in Chapter:
A Computer-Based Reading Tutor for Young Language Learners
Kenneth Reeder (The University of British Columbia, Canada), Jon Shapiro (The University of British Columbia, Canada), Margaret Early (The University of British Columbia, Canada), Maureen Kendrick (The University of British Columbia, Canada), and Jane Wakefield (The University of British Columbia, Canada)
Copyright: © 2008
|Pages: 30
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-895-6.ch010
Abstract
This chapter describes the first year of research on the effectiveness of automated speech recognition (ASR) for ESL learners in the early school years. The aim was to learn how such technology can enhance literacy learning as an element of L2 development, using prototype research software entitled the Reading Tutor (RT). In addition to assessing learners’ gains in reading scores, the attitudinal dimension of speech recognition technology was investigated in an effort to explain the effectiveness of the software. We found that both heritage language (L1) and level of English proficiency were linked to students’ reading gains with the RT. Further, the RT was shown to be equally effective to a more time-intensive volunteer tutoring program. A positive affective impact of the RT was demonstrated in the interview data but not in two widely used attitudinal scales. An Appendix describes the technical implementation of the project.