Interactive Electronic Reader to Support English Education

Abstract

Knowledge of English in the Philippines is important not only in the work place, but as well as in education. English is the primary language of instruction in the Philippines, even in public schools. Students who have difficulty understanding English will also have trouble with the other subjects like Science and Math. However, there is a lack of qualified English school teachers, particularly in the public school system where the teachers themselves use wrong grammar and mispronounce words. To help alleviate the problem, our group has partnered with the Department of Education to create an electronic reader. The electronic reader can demonstrate proper pronunciation and can supplement the lessons taught in a traditional classroom environment with interactive exercises and activities. A complete Grade 3 English course in an electronic game console format was developed and deployed in an elementary school to test its effectiveness. About 300 students got involved in the experiment. After one school year of monitoring and evaluation, students who used the reader showed improved scores in government administered tests. Students from low performing sections had particularly significant gains.