WO2023247979A1

WO2023247979A1 - Language grammar learning device

Info

Publication number: WO2023247979A1
Application number: PCT/GE2023/050004
Authority: WO
Inventors: Merab TOPOURIA
Original assignee: Topouria Merab
Priority date: 2022-06-24
Filing date: 2023-06-16
Publication date: 2023-12-28
Also published as: GEP20237553B

Abstract

The device consists of an axis having the form of a prismatic tube, with at least ten facets, and the elements to be put on the axis, in the form of rings having different width and color, with the same number of facets as the axis, at the same time, one facet, both on the axis and on the rings, is empty, and according to the color of each ring, corresponding similar parts of speech of the studied language are written on other facets, the arrangement and sequence of the rings on the axis are fixed for each individual language and depends on the peculiarities of the syntax of this particular language, at the same time, the rings have the possibility of rotating around the axis and of sliding along the axis.

Description

LANGUAGE GRAMMAR LEARNING DEVICE

The invention relates to devices for use in the learning process and can be used in the teaching of a language for a simple and illustrative explanation and acquisition of the grammar of that language.

Various technical means are known from the level of technology, which help people easily study the grammar of the language, learn and memorize the simplest phrases. They are described, for example, in the following publications:

Shaverdashvili E., Fundamentals of Foreign Eanguage Teaching, Tbilisi 2014.

Giorgobiani E., The Theory and Methodology of Teaching Foreign Languages, Tbilisi: Language and Culture, 2004.

Vyvyan Evans and Melanie Green, Cognitive Linguistics. An Introduction; Edinburgh University Press, 2006.

Allen V.F. Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary, Oxford University Press, 1983

The proposed invention is characterized by a functional and visual similarity with devices known from the level of the technique:

The grammar of both native and foreign languages has always been considered one of the most boring, tedious and uninteresting things. Because of this, teachers, methodists, and linguists often use various forms of visualization, games, and other means to explain and exercise grammar rules.

Existing visual aids can be divided into several main groups according to the principle of action:

1. on the principle of cards

- Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and other parts of speech are located on the cards of different shapes or colors and they need to be arranged in the right combination. Example: Sentence Toolbox (Fig. 1) 2. flip calendar principle - Sentence flips (Fig. 2)

3. different types of blocks (Fig. 3)

4. Six-faced (hexahedron) cubes and dice principle - Big Box of Sentence Building (Key Education Sentence Building for Kids) (Fig. 4)

The invention also has visual prototypes having a total different purpose - mainly encryption function. The principle of operation of such devices is to arrange the numbers or letter combinations applied to these rings by rotating the rotating rings around the axis. One of these combinations is the code that opens a locked padlock, safe, suitcase or briefcase, etc. (Fig. 5)

The most famous of the various devices working on this principle is "Jefferson disk", invented by Thomas Jefferson, the principle of which is used in Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" and its film adaptation (the device is called Cryptex). (Fig. 6, Fig. 7. Fig. 8)

Visually and functionally, the closest device to the proposed invention is so-called Jefferson disk (Fig. 6), described in the following sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson disk

Kahn, David. The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing. New York: Scribner, 1996

The resemblance of the Jefferson disk with the proposed device is mostly visual. Compared to the proposed device, the drawback of the Jefferson disk is that only one letter is written on the facets of its rings, when on the proposed device, complete words are placed on each ring, and besides, each ring contains the words of the same grammatical category (interrogative words, auxiliary and modal verbs, nouns, pronouns, verbs, objects etc.). Functionally, a Jefferson disk allows creation of a combination of letters, while the proposed device allows construction of word combinations (sentences).

Besides, the main difference from the Jefferson disk is that in the proposed invention, it is possible to rotate the rings not only around the axis, but also to move them along the axis, and furthermore, the presence of empty facets on each ring allows for the construction of more sentence variations. The proposed device for studying the grammar of a language, containing the elements, on which the words (parts of speech), commonly used in the studied language, are written, it contains an axis having the form of a prismatic tube, with at least ten facets, and the elements to be put on the axis, in the form of rings having different width and color, with the same number of facets as the axis, at the same time, one facet, both on the axis and on the rings, is empty, and according to the color of each ring, corresponding similar parts of speech of the studied language are written on other facets, the arrangement and sequence of the rings on the axis are fixed for each individual language and depends on the peculiarities of the syntax of this particular language, at the same time, the rings have the possibility of rotating around the axis and of sliding along the axis, while dimensions of the outer surface of the axis and inner surface of the rings are adapted to allow fixation in any position due to friction force.

Fig. 1 shows an example of a functional prototype - the Sentence Toolbox;

Fig. 2 shows an example of a functional prototype - Sentence flips;

Fig. 3 shows an example of a functional prototype - different types of blocks;

Fig. 4 shows an example of a functional prototype - Big Box of Sentence Building (Key Education Sentence Building for Kids)

Fig. 5 shows an example of a visual prototype - a code lock;

Fig. 6 shows the Jefferson disc;

Fig. 7 shows the Cryptex (according to Dan Brown's book);

Fig. 8 shows the plastic variant of the Cryptex, printed on a 3-D printer;

Fig. 9 shows the actual model of the proposed device printed on a 3D printer; fig. 10 shows the actual model components of the proposed device printed on the 3D printer;

Fig. 11 shows the 3D computer model of the proposed device;

Fig. 12 shows the 3D computer model of the proposed device disassembled into components;

Fig. 11 shows the 3D computer model of the proposed device in section;

Fig. 14 shows a computer model of the proposed device with Chinese hieroglyphs; Fig. 15 shows the real model of the multifunctional ring of the proposed device on which you can see:

1 - a thin self-adhesive sticker with polygraphic or printer inscription (white text on black background)

2 - Adhesive label printed with DYMO tool (READ)

3 - Self-adhesive thin sticker with felt tip pen inscription (WHY)

4 - text applied directly to the ring with a marker or a felt-tip pen (CAN)

Fig. 16 shows the real model of the multifunctional ring of the proposed device on which you can see:

1 - embossed facets between the ring sides

2 - Round cavities left on the inside of the ring for the electronic version of the device, where NFC Tags or other data transfer elements are placed.

Fig. 17 shows a computer model of the multi-function ring of the proposed device with dimensions showing the cavities left for the NFC carrier.

Fig. 18 shows a computer model of the multifunctional axis of the proposed device, showing the cavities left for the contacts connecting the core of axis of the electronic variant to the NFC sensors.

Fig. 19 shows the relative position of the components of the electronic version of the proposed device

Fig. 20 shows a core of the electronic variant gullet, which includes:

• At one end

Microphone

USB port

Multi-function button

Audio Jack

At the other end

Eoudspeaker Inside the core

Contacts

Bluetooth

Processor with software

Rechargeable battery

As an example, let's look at a particular version of the device for learning English grammar. The proposed device is actually a set of different details.

1) Based on the structure of the English language, in more than 90% of simple sentences the order of parts of the sentence is the same. The proposed device allows you to easily and clearly acquire the basic principles of English grammar and bring them to the stage of automatism.

2) For this a device is designed (see figure 11), the simple version of which consists of a green axis (tube) and rings that have a specific color: white, yellow, red, blue (primary colors).

3) Additional rings may be used which will have contrasting colors different from the main colors of the axis (tube) and rings - violet, orange, bright blue etc. (Additional Colors)

4) On the main rings are printed or embossed: a) WHY, WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, HOW... (Interrogative words - on the white ring) b) DO, BE, HAVE, CAN, MAY, MUST WILL (Modal or auxiliary verbs - on the yellow ring) c) I, YOU, HE/SHE/IT, WE, THEY... (SUBJECT - ON THE GREEN TUBE) d) SPEAK, READ, SMOKE, SEE, WANT, GO .... (predicate, verbs - on the red ring) e) ENGLISH, A BOOK, A DOG etc (object - on the blue ring).

5) The set also comes with blank rings of the appropriate color on which other options of the relevant sentence parts can be written and erased with a temporary marker (as on a whiteboard), stickers with other vocabulary materials, blank stickers on which any text can be written. (See Fig. 15) ) This allows for the composition of declarative, interrogative, and imperative sentences consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 words in affirmative and negative forms. For example:

Speak! / Speak English! / Do speak English! / Do not speak! / Do not speak English!

I speak / 1 speak English / 1 do speak English. / 1 do not speak English. / Read! / Read this book! / Do speak English! / Do not smoke here!

I do not like it / We do not smoke here

Do you like it? / Do we speak English?

Why do not you like it/ Where do you smoke? / Why are you smoking?

When did you see him? / Who smoked a cigar?

Have you read this book? / Have you smoked a cigar? ) when constructing an English sentence using the device, several possible combinations are used, in the order of which only the auxiliary/modal verb (yellow ring) position is changed (before or after the noun/ subject) : a) Key phrase i) WHY DO not I SPEAK ENGLISH? b) variations with the words of the key phrase (incomplete list) i) Speak! ii) SPEAK ENGLISH! iii) I SPEAK ENGLISH. iv) DO not SPEAK ENGLISH! v) DO not SPEAK! vi) WHY DO I SPEAK ENGLISH? vii) DO I SPEAK ENGLISH? viii) WHY DO not I SPEAK? c) variations with other words (incomplete list) i) LISTEN! ii) READ THIS! iii) I LOVE YOU. iv) DO not BREAK IT! v) DO not SMOKE! vi) WHAT CAN YOU DO? vii) MAY I SIT HERE? viii) WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

8) To compose a sentence, it is necessary to rotate the rings of the device around the axis, construct the necessary combination and pronounce the sentence loudly. In such a case, vision, speech, hearing, tactile receptors and spatial orientation are activated, which ensures maximum complex involvement of neurons in the brain, and this in turn greatly increases the rate of remembering and acquisition.

9) The colors of the axis and rings of the device, their correspondence to the parts of the sentence and interchangeability helps the student to acquire the structure of the language and to automate it, as a result of which the student never forgets this principle again (analogy - swimming, cycling, skiing or skating, etc.).

10) By this principle, the device can be used to learn other languages that have a fixed syntactic structure. Such languages are the following languages known to the inventor:

English

Chinese (see Fig. 14)

Vietnamese,

Turkic group languages (Turkish, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, etc.) Sanskrit derivatives (Hindi, Bengali and other)

Using the invention, it is possible to simplify the process of learning a language and make it accessible to the general public.

Besides, various device options customized for a specific language allows for easy mastering of multiple languages by one person.

The device has 2 versions: mechanical (only a set of elements made of plastic material) and electronic (plastic elements + electronics). Device option of the set made of plastic material (Fig. 9-14) B. Electronic variant, (Fig. 18 and 19) in which the following components and functions are added to the plastic mechanical part:

1. built-in transmitters in the rings (NFC or any other technology transmitters that do not need power) and sensors located in the axis (Fig. 16, 17, 18, 19)

2. Core, which sits in the axis, receives data from the transmitters and sensors about the composed combination and checks its correctness. (Fig. 20).

3. Once the values assigned to the blank rings are registered in the application, the user can check the compiled combinations with the new vocabulary.

4. Mobile application - electronic option has software, memorizes all tests, records progress, provides recommendations.

Claims

CLAIMS A device for studying the grammar of a language, containing the elements, on which the words (parts of speech), commonly used in the studied language, are written, differs in that it contains an axis having the form of a prismatic tube, with at least ten facets, and the elements to be put on the axis, in the form of rings having different width and color, with the same number of facets as the axis, at the same time, one facet, both on the axis and on the rings, is empty, and according to the color of each ring, corresponding similar parts of speech of the studied language are written on other facets, at the same time, the arrangement and sequence of the rings on the axis are fixed for each individual language and depends on the peculiarities of the syntax of this particular language, at the same time, the rings have the possibility of rotating around the axis and of sliding along the axis, while dimensions of the outer surface of the axis and inner surface of the rings are adapted to allow fixation in any position due to friction force. The device, according to Article 1, differs in that the rings are made of a flexible material, e.g. silicone, and have the ability to turn the inner surface of the rings inside out, which allows to double the amount of lexical material applied to the rings.

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SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)