SBIR-STTR Award

In this project we will develop a language training module concept that addresses the problem of language attrition. The concept addresses the multiple aspects of this problem: durable language acquisition that is resistant to attrition, diagnosis of language attrition when it occurs, and skill maintenance training focused on the skills that trainees are in the process of losing. The design of the training concept will draw on research in the psychology of language attrition, while building upon best emerging technologies and methods for language training. The concepts will extend the Tactical Language and Culture Training family of training systems, including Tactical Iraqi and Tactical French, resulting in practical training solutions that transition into Navy and Marine Corps use, yielding concrete training benefits to Sailors, Marines, and language learners generally. We will conduct follow-on evaluations of the effectiveness of the approach in helping Sailors and Marines to retain their language skills.

Keywords:
Language Training, Language Attrition, Serious Games, Tactical Language Training, Learner Modeling, Language Assessment

The purpose of this project is to develop new language training methods that help guard against language skill decay, and help recover from skill decay when it has occurred. It leverages previous DoD and ONR investments in language learning technology, but it focuses squarely on the language attrition problem. In addition to providing language training that is resistant to decay, it pays particular attention to the problem of how to quickly recover language skills after attrition has occurred. This latter focus is a unique feature of this work, and is a key innovation. It is a fact of military life that there will be gaps between the time when languages are trained and the time when they are used. Thus some skill decay is inevitable, and so methods are needed that enable learners to recover their language skills as quickly and efficiently as possible. The developed technology will support both computer-based language training and mobile language training. The work has been informed both by the theory of learning and decay, as well as analyses of data from language learners using language training software.

Keywords:
Language Attrition, Skill Decay, Learner Modeling, Mobile Learning, Learning Curves