Human factors in computing: the influence of multimodal design upon long-term L2 vocabulary retention

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of multimodal software design on long-term second language vocabulary retention. Our primary hypothesis posits that employing a multimodal design in second language acquisition (SLA) application development will lead to an increase in explicit semantic encoding of second language (L2) words in long-term memory (LTM) and subsequently an increase in long-term word retention. We also demonstrate that speech recognition has evolved sufficiently to be applied as a language learning tool. We investigate many of the existing psychological theories and software engineering paradigms that support our hypothesis. Finally we present a new software engineering model, C-CAD, which responds to a need for a more cognition-centred approach to software design.