German University in Cairo

Media Engineering and Technology Department

Shakileeny: Teaching Arabic

Diacritics in a fun Interactive way
using Augmented Reality
Bachelor Thesis Presentation

Author: Mariam Adel Abbas Abdelfattah Anany

Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Slim Abdennadher, Eng. Ghada Ahmed Bahaa Eldin
Content
1- Introduction
2- Background (Literature Review)
3- Methodology
4- Experimental Design
5- Results and Discussion
6- Conclusion
7- Future Work
8- References
1- Introduction

3
Introduction

● Technology surrounding our everyday live

● AR role in technological advancement
Research Question

● Does AR-assisted Diacritics learning improves students’

academic performance Compared to a 2D game ?
2- Background

6
Why Arabic ?

● The study is being conducted in Egypt

● Aimed at Egyptian students who have Arabic as

their first language

● Encountering difficulties while learning Arabic

especially Arabic Diacritics .
Why Arabic ?

● words are composed of letters and diacritics,

which are short vowel symbols
● Diacritics serve two purposes in Arabic:
○ They act as a phonetic guide, assisting readers in
correctly reciting/articulating the text,
○ They clarify the context of otherwise ambiguous terms
Why Arabic ?

● 62% of children get

extra Arabic support
classes at home

● 58% of parents believe that

their children are not receiving
enough Arabic language
Education
Why Arabic ?

● 64.6% believe they have not

reached the expected level
learning Diacritics

● 62.5% of children started

learning diacritics
Apps found teaching Arabic

‫ﺗﻌﻠﯾم اﻟﺣروف ﺑﺎﻟﻌرﺑﻲ ﻟﻼطﻔﺎل‬ Arabic Alphabet ‫ا ب ت‬

arabic alphabet

Zee’s Alif Ba
Apps found teaching Arabic Diacritics

● Basic 2D app
● Not engaging
● No games

‫ﺣروف و ﺗﺷﻛﯾل‬
Augmented Reality in Education

● According to research findings, students who use

augmented reality (AR) while learning content is more
likely to maintain the information and formulate
real-world applications

Lisabeth J Leighton and Helen Crompton. Augmented reality in k-12 education.

In Mobile technologies and augmented reality in open education, pages 281–290. IGI
Global, 2017.
AR in Language learning

● The inspiration, happiness, concentration, commitment, and

pleasure were increased.

● It also improved multi-language learning efficiency.

Antigoni Parmaxi and Alan A Demetriou. Augmented reality in language learning:

A state-of-the-art review of 2014–2019. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning,
36(6):861–875, 2020.
Why Serious Games ?

● Game-based learning is an educational design

methodology that improves inspiration, commitment,
and learning for students.

Aparajita Jaiswal. Revisiting the historical roots of game-based learning.

TechTrends, 65(3):243–245, 2021.
Combining AR and serious games

● A study stated that combining the two processes

would undoubtedly result in a hybrid framework that
would have a significant effect on the educational
sector .

Carlo H Godoy Jr. Augmented reality for education: A review.

Proposed solution

● Implementing an AR-based serious game to

teach Arabic diacritics in a fun interactive way

● comparing it with an identical 2d game

● Investigate the student motivation and the effect

of having an AR-based game on the learning gain
compared to a 2d game
3- Methodology

18
Used software

● The Game is following the Arabic

Curriculum of Egypt
● Teach kids aged 4-5 specifically (kG2)
students

19
Used software

● The software used in this project is Unity

● An additional API of AR Foundation

20
Game Themes

Training Playing Combing learned Diacritics

21
Plane Detection

● Student is guided to face a plane

● Plane detected and press to spawn

22
Video Demo

23
Main menu

24
Second Menu

25
Training

26
Connect the Diacritics dots

27
Shooting Diacritics

28
Pop Diacritics Balloons

29
Collecting Diacritics

30
Matching Diacritics

31
Game Flow

32
4- Experimental Design

33
Test Setup

● Primary dependent variable: The learning gain of the

child.
● Secondary dependent variable : The engagement
level during the learning process.
● Independent variables : AR serious game vs 2D game is
the only independent variable to be examined.

34
Test Setup

● A control group of Fourteen children aged 4-5

years was assessed, with an experimental group of
population n=14
● Students divided into 2 groups
● Between subject design
● Group testing AR game
● Group testing 2D game

35
Test Setup

● Participant playing 2D
● Participant playing AR game
game
36
Test Setup

● Pre and Post test survey to test learning gain

○ 6 questions influenced by arabic textbook
● Engagement test Questionnaire .
○ 11`questions Likert scale survey

37
5- Results and Discussion

38
Learning Gain Analysis

● This formula is calculating the normalized

gain proved by that it is not prescore biased
and can be used to calculate the gain

● The learning gain of each student was

calculated by this formula :

< g >= (< P ost > − < P re >)/(100− < P re >)

Vincent P Coletta and Jeffrey J Steinert. Why normalized gain should continue to be
used in analyzing preinstruction and postinstruction scores on concept inventories.
Physical Review Physics Education Research, 16(1):010108, 2020.

39
Learning Gain Analysis

● The group statistics showed that the mean learning

gain of the AR group was 83% while the 2D group was
54.7% that Means learning gain of AR group

40
Learning Gain Analysis

● Analysing using Independent sample t-test showed a

significance of 0.021 which is less than p<0.05 so it
shows that the analysis is significant

41
Engagement Questionnaire Analysis

● The engagement level test contained 11 Questions

where each question had a score of 5 points so the
whole test had an overall score of 55 points.
● The AR group had a mean score of 48 points while the
2D group had a mean score of 39 points

42
Engagement Questionnaire Analysis

● A total percentage score of 273 of 385 that makes a total engagement

percentage of 70.9%
● The Group who experienced the Shakileeny app had a total score of
336 points out of 385 points with a total engagement percentage of
87.3%.

43
Engagement Questionnaire Analysis

● Analysing using Independent sample t-test showed a

significance of 0.01 which is less than p<0.05 so it shows that the
analysis is significant

44
6- Conclusion

45
Conclusion

● The findings indicated that utilizing the Shakileeny app had a

substantial favorable influence on students’ academic success.

● The Shakileeny app has a notable influence on Arabic Diacritics

learning when compared to 2d games, used to enhance students’
academic level.

46
Limitations

● AR technology is not supported by all mobile devices, the tests

could not be done in parallel or sent to be tested at home

● Testing took place during the summer

47
Attempts Made

● Trying to use speech to text google api

● Had a mini game that was a maze

48
7-Future Work

● Extending the Shakileeny app with all the

alphabet

● Extending the Shakileeny app with all the

Diacritics

● Enhancing features and sound effect

49
8-References

● Carlo H Godoy Jr. Augmented reality for education: A review.

● Lisabeth J Leighton and Helen Crompton. Augmented reality in k-12 education.In Mobile technologies and augmented
reality in open education, pages 281–290. IGI Global, 2017.
● Antigoni Parmaxi and Alan A Demetriou. Augmented reality in language learning:A state-of-the-art review of 2014–2019.
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 36(6):861–875, 2020.
● Aparajita Jaiswal. Revisiting the historical roots of game-based learning.TechTrends, 65(3):243–245, 2021.

50
Any Question ?

51
Thank You

52