ENPAIR 2025

The use of digital tools for the assessment and intervention of language (among other cognitive abilities) is promising to offer students individualised opportunities of learning in inclusive school settings. In this pilot study, we used a digital app (Klassert & Tan, 2022) to assess short- and medium-term improvements in gender assignment to articles (der, die, das in German) in multilingual primary school students, including some with special educational needs. Age of Onset (AoO) in German was evaluated as a predictor of learning gains, too. A pre-, post-, follow-up design was used to train gender assignment in 12 participants (age: M = 9;9 y.o., R = 7;2-12;9 y.o.). The experimental group (EG, N=9) received app-based training 3-to-4 times/week for 10 minutes over five weeks, while the control group (CG, N=3) received no training.

A statistically significant learning gain was attested at post-test in the EG only (d = 1.194, p = .006), which remained stable (d = .120, p = .204) at follow-up (5-7 weeks after training). An item analysis revealed a large effect for trained items (d = 2.042, p < .001) and a small effect for untrained items (d = .341, p = .062). AoO correlated with training gains in trained items (r = .731, p = .025).

Our preliminary results show potential for supporting sustainable learning gains in gender assignment, especially for students with late exposure to the language of schooling, thus making the use of app-based language support suitable for inclusive school settings. Training of more participants with special educational needs is currently ongoing.

References
Klassert, A. & Tan, S. (2022). Unterstützung des Genuserwerbs mit der App Das Die Der – Artikel lernen. Sprachtherapie aktuell, 4(1). 2-5.