1. LLAMA Language Learning and Acquisition on Mobile Architecture Problem
Solution
Due to rapid globalization and the changing nature of economies worldwide, the need and demand for English literacy both in developing countries (such as India, Bangladesh and South Africa), and among immigrant communities in developed countries, is greater than ever before.
Backed by extensive fieldwork done by the BID’s Matthew Kam (
In many of these contexts, even basic English knowledge can make the difference between brutal poverty and a minimum level of comfort by facilitating:
Employment opportunities: English is the language
Internet and computer usage: access to information in the public domain
High school and higher education at recognized institutions
BUT…
There is a severe shortage of standardized English learning resources
Most schools in these communities are understaffed, and manned by under-qualified teachers
English taught is often contextually non-relevant and non re-usable in real life situations
e.g. memorization and recital of nursery rhymes and poems.
Our project, the LLAMA, is a language learning package that seeks to augment the in-school learning process by emphasizing the contextual relevance of the vocabulary learnt.. There are 3 aspects to the LLAMA model:
Contextually-relevant Vocabulary Content Creation, powered by Smartphone camera
Easy content consolidation, referral and search in the Word Book
Verification and self-assessment systems through interactive games powered by Word Book content
All tied together by high user (or instructor) extensibility.
Target User group
Our primary target users are year-old students from low-income families in developing countries or from immigrant communities in developed ones.
These users are usually non-native speakers of English, but are enrolled in ESL programs in their schools. The required computer and English literacy baseline for our product is minimal, and is restricted to being able to read words (word identification, but not recognition). Our UI is highly flexible across all languages.
Word Book
Learning Games
The user can use this feature to add, edit or look up definitions of words/phrases and access any user-added content associated with the word. The user can also view the page in his/her native language as an extra support.
Powered by the consolidated content from the first two modules, fun, interactive games like War of the Words and Textris, a variation of Tetris, provide reliable verification and self-assessment systems.
Design Evolution
Final Prototype Description
Major Changes:
Meaningful Images next to Menu Options for new users
Numbered Navigation on the Menu screen
Features Implemented
Features Unimplemented
Photo manipulation & camera integration, w/ word tagging support
Multi-lingual word lookup, addition, and cross-referencing
XML word and language data store
Localization supported for all application text
Proof-of-concept support of French, Spanish, and English
Phrase support
Bluetooth multiplayer games & word updates
Game linking to XML data store
Photo & camera control UI skinning
Major Changes:
Text input through a combination of keypad and selection from a dynamically filtered list (recognition rather than recall)
Initial Sketch
Lo-Fi Prototype
Final Design
Dimas Guardado | Kristopher Hom | Aaron McKee | Anand Raghavan | Aretha Samuel
CS 160 Spring 2006