Assistive design for English phonetic tools (ADEPT) in language learning

Assistive Design for English Phonetic Tools (ADEPT) was developed to improve inclusion in classrooms and enhance collaboration among blind, low vision, and sighted learners of American English (AE) as a second/foreign language through better access to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols and the sounds they represent. Grounded in multisensory training efficacy, ADEPT involves auditory-visual- tactual integration through the use of visual-tactile IPA symbol cards and an auditory-visual companion website based on the Universal Design for Learning guidelines. Each card includes a symbol, description, and website reference number, all with braille notations. The website includes printed and audio-recorded information on the articulation of AE consonants and vowels, with recordings of each sound in isolation, syllables, and words. ADEPT’s pedagogical efficacy was field tested with 21 blind/low vision adult L2 learners of AE (L1 Spanish), emphasizing vowel production in a pretest-training-posttest design, which had a training period of 10 weeks. Production scores from native-speaking raters were the dependent variable in a multilevel model with time (pretest-posttest comparison) as a fixed effect. Results showed a significant effect of time (i.e., improvement in production accuracy); the fit of the model improved when the random effect of participants was added (p < .001). In addition, pre- and post-study comments were very positive. ADEPT, which learners described as “invaluable,” can facilitate a collaborative learning environment.