This is a CALL (Computer-Aided Language Learning) tool to teach primary school children aged between 10 and 13, beginners French and German. The software is designed with the learning needs of a particular group of students in mind. Its main purpose is to provide these children with a foundation knowledge of a foreign language so that the transition between primary and secondary school is made a little easier. As part of the research for the software and teaching methodology, we taught French and German in a local primary school in a disadvantaged area - Virgin Mary Boy's National School in Ballymun. We held two ¾ hour sessions per language per week, for a period of six months. During this time we developed the curriculum and brought the children to DCU on a regular basis to test the software to date and provide feedback.
The final package will contain a series of learner pages which will include sound files for pronunciation, along with a choice of 2-3 exercises on each learner topic, to reinforce the material learned. The exercises will not only examine written and comprehension skills - but also aural ones. Each user must log-on to the system and their progress is recorded so that a teacher can later examine their progression.