Abstract
Abstract : This study investigates the user-centred design of an educational toy for Foundation Phase learners to aid in the learning and teaching of an additional language. The study is conducted in the South African context and considers problems that arise from the dichotomy in the country’s socioeconomic system and manifest in the education system. Secondary research shows that most Foundation Phase learners face a transition in their language of learning and teaching when entering the Intermediate Phase (from their mother tongue to English), and primary research shows that some learners receive instruction in English starting in the Foundation Phase, despite having no previous exposure to the language. The educational toy is primarily intended to support learner proficiency in the most prominent language of instruction (English), and approaches the problem from an industrial design perspective. Literature regarding education in South Africa, learning, and design for children was used to build a framework of understanding and to guide the research and design. By combining the traditional design approach, user-centred design and the action research approach, the study conducts both primary and secondary research, and encompasses three design iterations that involved user feedback and testing at various stages. Although the learners are the apparent ‘users’ of the product, the role of teachers and facilitators is also crucial. The study was located at three schools and three remedial learning centres in Johannesburg, and involved primary and secondary users (learners and facilitators). The resultant design intervention is a set of language-based building blocks that focus on supporting the fundamentals of language learning. The open-ended resource consists of building blocks of various sizes (and a suitable storage system) that depict images, single letters and letter combinations, and that can be adapted to different learner levels and learning contexts, and can be used in a variety of ways. Based on user feedback, as well as heuristic evaluations, this study can be considered successful in addressing the question of how the design of an educational toy can support the teaching and learning of an additional language in the Foundation Phase.
M.Tech. (Fine Art)