LARA: an extensible open source platform for learning languages by reading

Learning and Reading Assistant (LARA) is an open source platform that enables conversion of plain texts into an interactive multimedia form designed to support second- and foreign-language (L2) learners. In this workshop, we illustrate the open source aspects using collaborative work carried out during a six-week summer project at the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies. Three undergraduate level students extended the platform in different directions in cooperation with other members of the international LARA team. The three subprojects were respectively concerned with adding automatically generated flashcards, adding multimedia versions of poetic texts in the archaic language Old Norse, and extending LARA to allow the inclusion of sign language content in Icelandic sign language – Íslenskt TáknMál (ÍTM). All three reached successful conclusions.

Constructing an interactive Old Norse text with LARA

We describe how the open-source Learning and Reading Assistant (LARA) platform was used to convert a classic Old Norse text, the Völuspá, into an interactive online form. The LARA version includes high-quality recorded audio, translations, notes on key words and phrases, an automatically generated concordance, and links to other online resources. The interactive text was created in two different editions, one with Modern Icelandic translations designed to support Icelandic school students who read the poem as a set text, and one with English translations designed for English readers with basic Old Norse who wish to able to appreciate the poem in the original as a piece of literature. Initial feedback from groups has been positive.

An Empirical Study on Reading Aloud and Learning English by the Use of the Reading Assistant SRS

This paper investigates the English pronunciation skills and its integration with other language skills when adopting the computer-assisted curriculum design. And it further explores the effectiveness of the Speech Recognition System (SRS) that was incorporated into a traditional English pronunciation class in China. During the course of this study, English majors who completed the SRS procedure for one year were examined in discrete aspects for the relationship between their reading aloud proficiency and language proficiency. The results show that the experimental groups with the SRS reading system curriculum design showed great effectiveness in improving learners’ reading aloud proficiency. As compared with traditional training methods for English oral reading, the computer-assisted form of oral training improved the students’ listening, pronunciation, reading, and writing skills. The SRS system also was found to be conducive to enhancing students’ interest in language learning and in cultivating their acceptance of self-directed learning.