Researchers Test Mobile Phone Games

Researchers in the United States and China are exploring how games on mobile phones can be used to teach children the Chinese language. The results may help promote the idea of mobile phones as learning devices, especially in rural areas of China.

            Computer scientists from Carnegie Mellon, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed two mobile learning games inspired by traditional Chinese games that emphasize cooperative playing, songs, and handmade objects. The Chinese language is more complex than most other languages because it uses 6,000 characters, each corresponding to a syllable or word. One game, Multimedia Word, has the player recognize and write a Chinese character correctly, based on hints such as a sketch or photo. A second game, Drumming Stroke, has a group of players practice writing Chinese characters in turns; participants must write stroke of the character in the correct order and then pass the mobile phone to the next player within the beat of a drum.

            Initially, the games were tested with children in Xin'an, China. Later, the testing was done at a private school in Beijing. In both cases the games showed that students could improve their knowledge of Chinese characters. ‘We believe that the cooperative learning encouraged by the games contributed to character learning,’ said Matthew Kam, assistant professor in Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science's Human-Computer Interaction Institute and project director. ‘The results of our studies suggest that further development of these games could make inexpensive mobile phones important learning tools, particularly for children in underdeveloped rural areas.’

            Despite their small screens and low computing power, Kam said, mobile phones could become a major educational resource as wireless carriers and mobile phone manufacturers extend sales into ever more rural areas of the globe.

            The use of mobile phone-based games for teaching English literacy has also been investigated to rural children in India and Kenya.

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

      

       a) One of the games gives the players clues on how to write the characters.

       b) Cooperative learning in itself helps improve character adquisition.

       c) The devices used do not necessarily have to cost much money.

       d) Children outside cities are the ones who could make the most out of these games.

       e) The bigger the screen, the better the learning of Chinese characters may get.

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given.

      

       a) to focus on (par.2)

       b) orderly (par.2)

       c) additional (par.3)

       d) gadget (par.3)

       e) to broaden, to develop (par.4)

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

      

1.     Researchers say that mobile phones could become important

a)     learning tools.

b)    entertainment devices

c)     means of communication.

2.     The learning games have been designed according to

a)     Chinese letters.

b)    Chinese computers.

c)     Chinese games.

3.     Chinese is a difficult language because it has

a)     complex vowels.

b)    so many characters.

c)     many letters.

4.     The use of mobile phones for the development of literacy has also been investigated

a)     in connection with poverty.

b)    in other countries.

c)     by the Chinese

Question 4: [4 POINTS] Write a short essay (about 120-150 words) on the following topic:

Education is a key factor in the development of a country. Do you agree?

KEY

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and  write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

      

       a) TRUE “One game, Multimedia Word, has the player recognize and write a Chinese character correctly, based on hints such as a sketch or photo.”

       b) FALSE “ cooperative learning encouraged by the games contributed to character learning.”

       c) TRUE “these games could make inexpensive mobile phones important learning tools”

       d) TRUE “particularly for children in underdeveloped rural areas.”

       e) FALSE “ Despite their small screens […] mobile phones could become a major educational resource”

      

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given.

      

       a) (to) emphasize

       b) in turns/ in the correct order

       c) further

       d) tool(s)

       e) (to) extend

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

1. a) learning tools.

     

2. c) Chinese games.

     

3. b) so many characters.

     

4. b) in other countries.