In times when excessive media consumption by children is increasingly being criticised, the legitimate question arises as to whether there can be meaningful screen time for young children. The ERASMUS+ project "SAYL" ("Stimulating Adventures for Young Learners") with the participation of linguists from Paderborn University assumes that screen time can be used meaningfully if the content is geared towards active participation. After three years of development work, the scientists have created a freely accessible multimedia platform on which exciting stories can be read interactively by children. They are offered in the majority and minority languages of the countries involved in the project. The e-books are primarily aimed at three to five-year-old children and are intended to help them develop language skills. The website has recently gone online and is publicly accessible at saylbooks.com.
The platform is designed according to the latest scientific findings. The stories are not only entertaining, but are deliberately designed to be thought-provoking and a conversation starter. In addition, the multilingual on offer offers special added value, as it is also aimed at children with several first languages.
A total of ten different e-books are currently available in 13 different languages, including German, English, Turkish, Ukrainian, Arabic and Polish. While most of the books are based on existing stories, two books were created especially for the platform by guest authors and illustrators - "Papa komm nach Hause" by Kees Broekhof and Marijke Klompmaker and "Robyn ist dran" by Marc Rohlfing and Eva-Christine Schenck. All the stories have not only been translated into the various languages, but also set to music. This gives children and parents, but also educators and teachers, the opportunity to activate a voice output at the beginning of each book and have it read aloud. In combination with the animations, the aim is to give children a conscious, age-appropriate introduction to the world of books at an early age and thus create an interest in literature.
Further study participants wanted
Even though the stories are already available online, the Psycholinguistics working group at Paderborn University is still looking for families with children aged four and five who would like to take part in the scientific study. During a one-off appointment at the university, the children discover one of the digital stories on the tablet and then talk about it. To ensure that the results remain as unbiased as possible, interested families are asked to visit the website only after participating in the study. Interested parties can send an email to sprachspiellabor@uni-paderborn.de.
This text was translated automatically.
