Developing an Electronic Device to Teach English as a Foreign Language: Educational Toy for Pre-Kindergarten Children

Abstract

This Educational toys are important in early child development and motivate children to learn language. Numerous digital toys are now available in the children’s educational toys market to help children learn foreign languages. However, a number of such technologies are expensive and the quality of usability is not at an acceptable level. The aim of the study is to develop a cost-effective, sustainable and danger-free educational toy for pre-kindergarten children aged between 4-5 years old to teach English as a second language in developing countries. This toy has been developed with Raspberry Pi and makes use of the RFID technology. The experiment in this research was conducted with 20 pre-kindergarten children for four weeks under the supervision of 14 teachers, using five games of the developed toy testing the pre-kindergarten children’s learning of alphabet, words, colors, shapes, and numbers. A design-based research model with an innovation design method utilized during the development stage of the toy. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to evaluate the developed toy. The results of the experiment showed that the developed toy is user-friendly, and the pre-kindergarten children were enthusiastic about playing with it and learning was enjoyable. Also, the results showed that the developed toy can be suitable for use as an educational toy for pre-kindergarten children to teach English as a second language. The educational toy developed by the researchers will be beneficial for those who wish to teach English to pre-kindergarten children such as administrators, teachers and parents in developing countries.