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Language Universe commissioned a study conducted by MLN Research,
to test the effectiveness of the PI Language Method on 4 and 5-year-old
children.
The purpose of the research study was to measure children's ability
to understand foreign words when exposed to them strategically embedded
into the dialogue of an entertaining video.
Thirty one on one interviews were conducted among children 4 and 5
years of age who had watched a cartoon a minimum of 4 times. The cartoon,
"Madame Jill", was placed in households with children who
did not speak French and who did not have any previous French language
exposure.
Sixteen interviews were conducted with the 4-year-olds, and fourteen
interviews were conducted with the 5-year-olds.
The interviews took place on September 18-19, 1997 at a research field
facility in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina market. A child research
specialist, Megan L. Nerz, conducted all 30 interviews and analyzed
the research data.
Key
Learnings:
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Based on the evidence
gathered during the course of the research, the PI Language
Method is an extremely effective technique for teaching foreign
language to young children.
Simply stated, when children heard the foreign words they had
been exposed to in the "Madame Jill" cartoon video,
they were easily and readily able to demonstrate their understanding
of what the words meant.
Total comprehension was very high (86%) and clearly evidenced
the concept's viability as a method of learning foreign language.
Children were not aware of how competent they were in their
ability to understand what the foreign words meant.
For example, when asked if they had an "ami" [meaning
friend], a typical response would be:
"Oh, yes. I have
an ami in my class and one in the 5 year old class."
In conclusion, this research supports the premise that the PI
Language Method is an extremely effective methodology for teaching
young children to comprehend and retain foreign words (French). |
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