Technology-assisted Sign Language Learning for Elementary School Children

Abstract

Technology-assisted learning is gaining increasing popularity through the advent of advanced technologies. Moreover, children get acquainted with technologies at very early ages nowadays with much proficiency. Therefore, technology has become an essential part of children's lives also, offering both entertainment and educational opportunities, much like its role in the lives of adults. However, despite the advancements in technology-assisted learning, there remains a gap in the availability of sign language learning tools tailored particularly for hearing children. It is, however, crucial to make sign language learning accessible to the hearing population in eliminating the communication barrier between hearing and Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. Moreover, for educational purposes, early childhood is widely recognized as the optimal time for learning. Therefore, implementing suitable strategies and technologies for young children can support them in learning sign language effectively. Based on the following motivation, this thesis work focuses on utilizing technology-assisted sign language learning for children, utilizing tablets, and a web-based platform. The web application, namely SL Zone, was designed and developed for teaching Finnish and Indian sign language to elementary schoolchildren, in particular 1st graders. The application utilized video resources to deliver sign language lessons for everyday objects and greeting statements, accompanied by quiz-based assessment modules. Two studies were conducted with 14 children from Finland, and 14 children from India to evaluate the scope of web-based application as well as preferred learning setups. Learning preferences were evaluated through the Perceptual Learning Style Preference questionnaire (PLSPQ) in the Finnish study. While it was intended to maintain similar study setup for explicit comparison, adjustments had to be made in the Indian study by excluding the questionnaire. The findings from the study demonstrated that children had been able to efficiently learn and recognize the signs with the web application, achieving accuracy up to 100%, highlighting the potential of technology-assisted learning for small children. Specifically, the web-based application proved beneficial for learning, without specific device requirements for usage and maintenance. In addition to greater accuracy, children’s engagement and interest in learning sign language has been observed. In terms of the materials, participants were able to comprehend daily words more accurately than greetings. However, the lack of sufficient interactive elements affected engagement at the end, suggesting a need for facilitating more interaction during the tasks. More insights were gained from analyzing the Perceptual Learning Style Preference questionnaire (PLSPQ) by observing the children’s preferences for collaborative activities during the Finnish study, indicating a potential for facilitating group-based tasks for children during future iterations. This was in line with the Indian study where children demonstrated more engagement during their group learning sessions. Furthermore, children showed preferences for in-class, and teacher-instructed activities. Detailed discussion on the findings including design recommendations for technology-assisted learning for children are proposed in the thesis. Additionally, limitations and challenges encountered during the study are addressed, offering insights for future work in this area.