Hello there language enthusiasts and fellow educators! As we delve into the archives of our journey with ‘Murder on the Language Train,’ there is a particular moment that stands out – our time at Digiwijs. Picture this: a room filled with enthusiastic teachers, brimming with anticipation as we unveiled our language-learning tool. Amidst the excitement, however, lay a point of discussion – grammar corrections.
The leap forward: from feedback to action
Today, we are thrilled to share the evolution of our grammar correction system, fueled by insights gained during the Digiwijs event. In September 2023, we presented ‘Murder on the Language Train’ at Digiwijs as a tool to enhance language skills. The presentation sparked a conversation around the then-existing grammar corrections.
Feedback as a driving force for improvement
Although teachers at Digiwijs considered speaking skills and fluency most important, it was clear they found corrective feedback important too. While our conversational game prioritizes fluency and enjoyable language learning experiences, we also prioritize continual improvement. By doing so, we can offer the best conversational AI games and tools for language learning. Our team truly took on this challenge and delved into it with the feedback in hand in Murder on the Language Train.
The new system
With a combination of the current system, generative AI, and improved UX, we tackled the problem. The new system provides feedback in the following manner: if the old system is certain that the sentence is correct, no corrective feedback is given (“we are certain”). If the old system provides feedback, we display this feedback, accompanied by a message “We only show a few errors, not necessarily all”. If the old system doesn’t provide feedback and we are unsure if the sentence is correct, a secondary system is activated.
Progress in pictures: before and after
The before and after pictures below paint a beautiful picture of the progress Linguineo has made.
In the before picture, a mistake remained uncorrected. Since students did not make that mistake yet, our system had not yet learned to correct that particular error. The good news, though, is that we improved it!
These improvements are not only available for our games, but also for all our customers. Looking ahead, we are working on providing more personalized corrective feedback.
As for other updates on Murder on the Language Train, Smartschool integration and LeerId integration are also complete (making the game even more accessible to schools in Flandres). We have also made the version for learning English available.
Thanks to our partners and supporters
In closing, Linguineo would like to thank a few key players. We express our gratitude for the valuable feedback we received during @Digiwijs. It was inspiring to see constructive discussions taking place within education. The sense of consensus spurred us to action and further fueled our project.
Special thanks to @Ann for her enthusiastic presence and support. Your energy was contagious, and we are immensely grateful for your valuable contributions to the discussion. We would also like to thank @Hannes for his excellent UX work, which pointed us in the right direction. To our esteemed project partners at @Language Train (ILT, SPC Jette, SPC Leuven, Howest), thank you for your ongoing support and involvement.
