Multimedia Sotho-English E-dictionary for Undergraduate Students in Design and Studio Art

Abstract

When students study at tertiary institutions they are often confronted with disciplines that are unfamiliar to them. Many of these disciplines are rich in terminology and concepts that students have never been confronted with in their past. In most South African tertiary institutions the language of instruction is English, making it difficult for second language speaking students to grasp the meaning of these terms and concepts. Research has shown that e-dictionaries with multimedia enhancements have greatly facilitated the comprehension of difficult terms and concepts. The inclusion of pictures, videos, animations, cartoons and audio clips into e-dictionaries have been proven to aid students in learning and comprehending new terms and concepts. Aim: Undergraduate students at the Department of Design and Studio Art, CUT-FS could greatly benefit from the development of a multimedia enhanced Sotho-English e-dictionary. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a multimedia enhanced Sotho-English e-dictionary that can be used by undergraduate students from the Department of Design and Studio Art, Central University of Technology, Free State. Methods: The study was divided into five phases in order to meet the aims and objectives. Firstly, English art and design terms and concepts were sourced from the relevant literature. The English art and design terms and concepts were for first year students at the Department of Design and Studio Art at the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT-FS). Secondly, Sotho equivalents of the sourced English art and design terms and concepts were devised. Thirdly, the instructional multimedia aids for the multimedia e-dictionary were designed. Fourthly, the user interface of the e-dictionary was developed. Lastly, the multimedia e-dictionary was tested by undergraduate students at the Department of Design and Studio Art at the CUT-FS. The students were randomly divided into two groups. The control group, Group A, did not have access to a multimedia enhanced e-dictionary while studying art and design terms and concepts. The multimedia group, Group B, had access to a multimedia e-dictionary while studying art and design terms and concepts. Furthermore, purposeful semi-structured interviews were conducted with five Sotho speaking participants of the multimedia group to gather qualitative data about their experience with the multimedia e-dictionary application. Results: The results of the online comprehension test revealed that the multimedia e-dictionary application successfully facilitated learning amongst the multimedia group students. The group of students that had access to the multimedia e-dictionary application significantly outperformed the group of students that did not have access to the multimedia e-dictionary application (p = 0.0007). The semi-structured interviews that were conducted with a few Sotho speaking students that had access to the application also supported the success of the SEADD application.