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Pairing Craft-Making with Mandarin eBooks: An Investigation into the Potential Use of Craft for Language Learning by Preschoolers

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Interactivity, Game Creation, Design, Learning, and Innovation (ArtsIT 2016, DLI 2016)

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Abstract

Bilingual ethnic Chinese parents are concerned about their preschoolers’ learning of their mother tongue. Many allow their children to learn Mandarin by accessing Mandarin language applications on mobile devices. However the effectiveness of solely using mobile devices as a learning tool for preschoolers is debatable. This paper presents a field investigation on how adult-facilitated craft-making promotes interaction between the adults and their children, generates greater interest the reading of Mandarin eBooks and retention of the stories. The data suggests pairing of activities may be useful to children of across language abilities. This also highlights a need for designers and educators to formulate a holistic design approach in the development of preschool mobile learning content.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.commontown.com.

  2. 2.

    Dudu Town was designed for self-paced reading and incorporates an Automated Reading Programme (ARP) that provides adaptive learning and matching of the reader’s ability to appropriate leveled changes in the readers’ content. http://dudu.town/.

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Acknowledgments

This investigation is part of the 1st author’s PhD study at Monash University, Australia. It was made possible with the collaboration of Commontown Singapore and participation from 15 adult volunteers and their children.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Design, Faculty of Art Design & Architecture, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3145, Australia

    Wil-Kie Tan, Stephen Jia Wang & Jeffrey Janet

Authors
  1. Wil-Kie Tan
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  2. Stephen Jia Wang
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  3. Jeffrey Janet
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wil-Kie Tan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology (CREATE), Aalborg University, Aalborg/Esbjerg, Denmark

    Anthony L. Brooks

  2. Department of Learning and Philosophy, The Faculty of Humanities, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Eva Brooks

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© 2017 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

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Tan, WK., Wang, S.J., Janet, J. (2017). Pairing Craft-Making with Mandarin eBooks: An Investigation into the Potential Use of Craft for Language Learning by Preschoolers. In: Brooks, A., Brooks, E. (eds) Interactivity, Game Creation, Design, Learning, and Innovation. ArtsIT DLI 2016 2016. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 196. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55834-9_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55834-9_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-55833-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-55834-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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