20 April 2006

A Somerset school has boosted the foreign language skills of its pupils through introducing online learning.

Young people at Preston Community School in Yeovil have been accessing online courses in French, German and Spanish during their language and computer lessons, as well as in after school clubs.

Recent research has revealed that 80 per cent of pupils of all abilities can claim to either have developed new language skills or consolidated previously studied material.

The e-learning software was trialled to see if it could excite young people about learning languages and it attempted to introduce a different methodology to learning that moves away from the more traditional grammar and translation techniques.

The company Rosetta Stone developed the software and it incorporates the use of real-life colour images to demonstrate the meanings of words.

It also features voice recognition technology and a feedback feature that helps to improve a pupil's confidence with pronunciation.

Preston school's language teacher Jonathan Peace has commented that he is pleased with the outcome of the trial and hopes it will ensure young people continue to study languages to both GCSE and A-Level standard.

"We are operating in an increasing competitive global market and having great language skills will no doubt give our pupils a good head start in their careers," he added.

© Adfero Ltd

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