STEM Familia Talk: A bilingual language acquisition smart speaker app to improve academic vocabulary, engagement and long-term education and health outcomes for Latino students and their families

PROJECT SUMMARY ABSTRACT Talk STEM FamiliaA language acquisition smart speaker based app to improve English language acquisition and family engagement and promote long term educational and health outcomes among firstand second generation Latino familiesA project to enhance the STEMsciencetechnologyengineeringand mathproficiency of Latino elementary students to prepare them for success in secondaryand college level STEM content coursesand in STEM fields after graduationWhile STEM fields account for most U Seconomic growthLatino students are less likely to enroll or complete degrees in undergraduate and graduate STEM programsGiven well established research linking grade completioneconomic successand overall health and well beingthis trend portends seriousnegativelong term physical and mental health outcomes for LatinosAccess to higher education generallyand to enrollment in STEM programs in particularis hindered by lagging academic literacy and especially by unfamiliarity with abstract words that make up the scientific academic vocabularySAVWords such as dimensionevidencemagnitudeintegratemechanismparameterand component are fundamental to STEM and higher content area learningbut are uncommon in everyday conversationparticularly in lower SES homes where English is not the first languageTo promote Latino studentsSAV proficiencywe propose a smart speaker based approach to acquiring and practicing SAV in natural family settingsWe will build technology that schools can share with upperelementary students and their families to increase studentsexposure and practice with evidence based SAV instructionTalk STEM Familiaa Spanish English app for more widely used smart speakers will provide a school to home bridge that enables familiesengagement in their child s academic language acquisitionSmart speaker technology can be used to deploy rich audio learning strategiesincludingbilingual instruction in definitions of target words and their pronunciationson demand audio games that stimulate vocabulary recognitionpronunciationusage practiceand recallandbrief audio dialogues that model the use and prompt practice of target words in culturally appropriate family and STEM contextsTalk STEM Familia will leverage limited classroom instructional time by enabling content area and ELD teachers to provide synchronous practice opportunities and feedback on SAV learningPhase I will establish proof of concept by testing a Talk STEM Familia prototypeThis will involve the participation ofparticipants infocus groupsdesign and testing of an interaction designusability testingand program evaluationThe latter will involve a pilot study ofdyads of Latinothth grade students and one of their parentsIn Phase II we will build the full program and subject it to a randomized controlled study with a large and adequately powered sample of students and their families Project Narrative Latino students experience significant achievement gaps that contribute to substantial disparity in health and economic outcomesSchools have limited capacity to insure their English language acquisition and support the involvement of firstand second generation parentsAs part of a strategy to mitigate those disparitiesearly development of scientific academic vocabulary is key to preparing Latino English language learners for content area learning and STEM related opportunitiesThe goal of this proposal is to improve access to sound instruction in scientific academic vocabulary through the development of a technology enhancedculturally responsive tool that engages Latino families in academic language acquisition and practice in the home setting