WO2008081464A2

WO2008081464A2 - A self teaching english keyboard for children with dyslexia

Info

Publication number: WO2008081464A2
Application number: PCT/IL2008/000246
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marina Vigodsky
Original assignee: Marina Vigodsky
Priority date: 2007-01-04
Filing date: 2008-02-27
Publication date: 2008-07-10
Also published as: GB0913647D0; IL180562A; WO2008081464A3

Abstract

A method for teaching letters and sounds to dyslexic learners using an electronic device. A device comprises two keyboards with keys bearing letters from a to z, push-buttons for switching modes of the device, two assessment screens and a speaker. Keys of the upper and lower keyboard are teaching units for the letters they bear. Each key of the upper keyboard bears a letter and consists of three sectors for providing the learner with audio and visual introduction of the letter. Each key of the lower keyboard consists of two sectors for providing audio and visual identification this letter. Interaction between pairs of keys of the upper keyboard and of the lower keyboard bearing the same letter forms self-teaching cycles. A learner gets from one cycle to another within groups of letters. A learner can rehearse self-teaching cycles as needed.

Description

A Self Teaching English Keyboard for Children with Dyslexia

I. The background.

My invention relates to teaching of pre-reading and early reading acquisition skills in English to native Hebrew speakers. It is especially accommodated for LD (learning disabled) children who fail to acquire necessary pre-reading skills or reading readiness skills and literacy by traditional instruction because of specific language processing disabilities/difficulties, which are united by the name "dyslexia".

Research by British Dyslexia Organization (BDA) suggests that up to 10 per cent of population suffer from manifestations of dyslexia that range from severe to mild. This data is based on the research that was conducted in English-speaking countries. The objects of research were individuals learning writing and reading in their native language which is English. The problem of literacy acquisition in English is more acute in non-English speaking countries like Israel where English is studied as a foreign language.

Pre-reading skills and early reading acquisition are two integral parts of reading readiness. Pre- reading skills are based on phonological awareness (PA) and early reading acquisition skill is based on knowledge of letter-sound correspondences.

The PA is a necessary pre-reading skill. Phonological awareness is the understanding of the sound structure of the oral language. PA is a universal skill. Its emergence is based on a cognitive ability independent of the child's spoken language. Once acquired PA is available to learners, regardless of which language they speak. That's why PA in Hebrew can easily be transferred to English. That's why we use cognates (words sounding similarly in Hebrew and English) as clue words for teaching sounds of letters of ABC.

When students lack PA they are disadvantaged in learning letter-sound correspondences which is connected with PA. This leads to further difficulties in acquiring pre-reading skills and reading acquisition. Later this causes difficulties in decoding words (reading) and difficulties in reading fluency and comprehension of written text. Dyslexics experience difficulties in:

1) Pre-reading (based on phonological awareness).

2) Early reading acquisition skills (based on knowledge of letter-sound correspondences) in their native or foreign language because of the following reasons: • Unawareness of the fact that spoken words are composed of a limited number of individual sounds (phonemes), in other words, lack of phonological awareness (PA) as a result of their natural impairments in this area

• Poor memory for letter (grapheme) - sound (phoneme) correspondences because of deficiencies in short-term memory.

The objective of my invention is to help overcome the above mentioned impairments by:

• Reinforcing awareness of the fact that words can be broken into individual phonemes (PA) by segmenting the first phoneme (sound) from the word (see sector "picture" of keys in upper keyboard and

• Pronouncing the first phoneme separately in a prolonged manner (see sector "letter- picture" of keys in upper keyboard, (description p. 5)

1) Providing visual (picture) and audio (sound) memory facilitators mat help establish letter-sound correspondences (see sectors "letter-picture" and "letter" of keys in upper keyboard and sectors "inner sector" and "outer sector" of keys in lower keyboard), (description p. 5-6)

2) Providing consistent training following the scheme: presentation with practice and control followed by assessment

My self-teaching educational device was developed to meet the specific needs of dyslexic individuals whose poor phonological processing ability and weak memory for letter-sound correspondences prevents them from successful acquisition of reading readiness skills in English. The learning task is achieved by applying teaching device consisting of two keyboards with a plurality of special letters-keys sorted into sound- and shape groups functioning in shape and sound modes.

My invention is a method and a device for structured teaching of letter-sound correspondences (a pre-reading skill) to dyslexic learners which comprises two interactive keyboards with self-teaching keys bearing letters of the alphabet featuring special aural and visual properties and involved in self-teaching performed in pairs of interrelated keys in mini-cycles and in groups of pairs of interrelated keys in macro-cycles; wherein letters within sound and shape groups are sorted to groups of interrelated letters embodied by macro-cycles in the two keyboards of the device. Teaching method employed in my invention pursues teaching letter-sound correspondences by sorting all letters to a sound-group and a shape group embodied by two modes of the device and further to small groups of interrelated letters within a sound-group and a shape group and teaches letter-sound correspondences by means of self-teaching cycles of interaction between two keyboards of a self-teaching device by pairs of corresponding keys in the two keyboards and comprises a presentation type of activity "which is a structured presentation of letter-sound correspondences embodied by a three-sector key in one keyboard and a letter-sound or a sound-letter controlled identification type of activity embodied by a two-sector key in another keyboard according to pairs of keys (a mini-cycle) and/or small groups of pairs of keys in the two keyboards (a macro-cycle).

Each key in keyboard for presentation bears a letter of the alphabet which is paired with a corresponding key in keyboard for controlled identification bearing the same letter; the interaction between mem forms a self-teaching mini-cycle which comprises presentation and controlled identification activities with monitoring of progress by assessment for individual pairs of corresponding keys in a mini-cycle and for groups of pairs of corresponding keys in a macro-cycle.

Method of presentation and controlled identification types of self-teaching activity within a mini-cycle are embodied in the device by the self-teaching interaction between 2 keyboards of the device, a keyboard for presentation with 3 -sector keys and a keyboard for controlled identification with 2-sector keys and with an assessment screen for progress monitoring in each keyboard, whereas an assessment screen in keyboard for controlled identification is designed for assessing correctness of audio-visual or visual-audio identification of a letter-sound correspondence of each pair of corresponding keys in a mini-cycle after finishing which a learner has an option either to go over the same mini-cycle whether he succeeded or not in the controlled identification or to head for the next mini-cycle within this small group of pairs of corresponding keys, a macro-cycle, and get final assessment after finishing the whole macro-cycle which will be indicated in one of the cells of assessment screen in keyboard for presentation according to the ordinal number of the small group of letters.

My invention, a method and a device, differ from other known methods and devices for teaching literacy in a foreign language because it teaches pre-reading literacy skill in a structured sequence based on phonological awareness of learners in native language. This pre-reading literacy skill is teaching competency in letter-sound/grapheme-phoneme correspondences by means of providing a 3 -sector and 2-sector keys each sector of which represents an independent unit and a step in a structured approach to teaching pre-reading skills to dyslexic learners. Improvements in my invention include method which pursues holistic approach to teaching pre-reading skills integrating PA (phonological awareness) and letter-sound correspondences as two integral parts of a whole, which means integration of teaching PA and letter-sound correspondences into one teaching unit which is a three-sector key. The steps of teaching in a three-sector key are the following: at the first step the first sound naming the object is pronounced separately from the rest of the word providing learner with awareness of a first sound of a familiarly sounding word, which is an oral skill named PA (for example, the word "flamingo" means the same in English and Hebrew and "f ' sounds ihe same) as a separate unit and getting it to phonological sensory store of a learner and further associating the sound "p" which is an oral skill with printed language which is presented in my invention by a picturing the object starting with the target letter in the shape of the initial letter for the letter to get directly from the visual sensory store to the long term memory of the learner and pronouncing the sound of letters in a prolonged way which makes up for untimely processing of visual and aural information in the brain of learning impaired individuals and finally getting to letter- sound correspondence. A three-sector key is a starting point of any mini- and macro-cycle of interaction between two keyboards of the device. Each mini-cycle comprises presentation and controlled identification types of teaching activity which can be rehearsed by the learner as needed.

II. Description of my invention

Fig.1 is a general view of my invention in an open position. Fig.2 is a general view of my invention in a folded position. A top perspective view of a teaching device for teaching the alphabet in accordance with the present invention is shown in an open position, having a front face with a number of components. These are in a upper keyboard a keyboard having a three-sector key for each letter of the alphabet from "a" to "2? ', an assessment screen with 12 cells for displaying assessment for each macro-cycle, a speaker for delivering audio messages accompanying activation of each sector of each three-sector key and an "outer" sector of a two-sector key; in a lower keyboard a keyboard having a two-sector key for each letter of the alphabet from "a" to "z" wilh a touch screen herein labeled as an "inner" sector and capable of sensing the touch of a user's finger for displaying a graphic representation of letters and an outer part herein labeled as an "outer" sector; a push-button for switching the device, a push-button for a shape mode and a push-button for a sound mode and an assessment screen for mini-cycles.

Fig.3 is a front face of an upper keyboard with 26 keys for letters of the alphabet, an assessment screen (2) in the lower right comer of the front face and a speaker (3) in the left lower comer of the front face. This keyboard is for visual and audio presentation of letters and their sounds.

Fig.4 is a front face of a lower keyboard with 26 keys for letters of the alphabet, an assessment screen (4) in the upper right comer of the front face and three push-buttons (5,6,7) in the upper left corner of the front face for choice of modes and for switching the device on/off. This keyboard is for audio-visual and visual-audio controlled identification of learner's competence in letters and sounds.

Fig.5 is a front face of a three-sector key for presentation with three sectors making a circle. These sectors are a "picture" (8) bearing a picture of an object, a "letter-picture" (9) bearing a picture of an object in the shape of the letter and a "letter" (10) bearing a representation of a letter. Fig.6 is a front face of a two-sector key for controlled identification with an outer sector (12) bearing three pictures of a clue word and an inner sector (11), which is a touch screen with two parallel horizontal lines in the middle.

The internal operating components of the teaching device are entirely electronic components, including software, for implementing the steps of the method of the invention. These components are completely within the capabilities of those skilled in the art and are not described herein, except for their operating capabilities.

Functioning of components of the device.

1. Rules of functioning.

Rule 1 - Ih each mode the order of work with the keys is from group to group and from letter to letter in each group.

Rule 2 - The device is activated by pressing keys and push buttons. Pressing of push buttons of modes causes switching from mode to mode. Activating any key in the keyboards causes the device to start its functioning from the pressed key in a chosen mode.

Rule 3 - If no key or push button is activated the device switches to a sleep mode.

2. Parts of device and their functioning. a. Operating a three-sector key (Fig.5) in upper keyboard (Fig.3). At the initial stage of operating the device in the sector "picture'* (8) of all keys in upper keyboard (Fig.3) becomes intermittently lit.

The learner chooses the letter (key) at the initial stage of operating the keyboard, after mat the device itself directs the pupil by intermittently lighting the following key which is predetermined by order of work with the keyboard (from group to group (macro-cycle) and from letter to letter in a group (micro-cycle)); except for the case if a learner wants to go over the same mini-cycle again. Ih this case he gets back to the same key in the upper keyboard.

Order of work:

A learner chooses any intermittentiy lit sector "picture" (8) of any key in upper keyboard (Fig.3) and presses it. After the sector "picture" (8) of a specific letter is activated, it continues to be intermittently lit while all the other keys go out. The sector "picture" (8). This sector is a push button.

This sector has a picture of an object which is a clue-word for the letter.

This sector can be intermittently lit.

Pressing of this sector is accompanied by an audio message delivering the clue word while emphasizing the initial sound of the word by separating it from the rest of the word. The sector "picture" (8) continues to be intermittently lit while the speaker delivers the audio message with the name of the object in the picture, then goes out and me sector "letter- picture" (9) of this key gets intermittently lit.

For example, the chosen hey is the sector "picture¹' (S) of the letter "p" key. The speaker delivers the audio message with the name of the object "p-izza" — "pizza" and after that the sector "letter-picture" (9) of this key gets intermittently lit. The pupil presses the intermittently lit sector "letter-picture" (9) and the speaker delivers the audio message with the long sound of the letter.

The sector "letter-picture" (9). This sector is a push button.

This sector has a picture of an object in ihe shape of the initial letter of its clue word.

This sector can be intermittently lit.

Pressing of this sector is accompanied by an audio message delivering the initial sound of the clue word in the prolonged manner for a few seconds.

The sector "letter-picture" (9) continues to be intermittently lit while the speaker is sounding, then goes out and sector "letter" (10) of this key gets intermittently lit. For example, the speaker delivers the audio message with a long sound of the letter "P "■' "P-P-P "_> ^{and tne} sector "letter" (10) of this key gets intermittently lit The pupil presses the intermittently lit sector "letter" (10) and the speaker delivers the audio message with the short sound of the letter.

The sector "letter" (10).

This sector is a push button.

This sector has a letter on it. The contours of the letter are tangible.

This sector can be intermittently lit.

Pressing of this sector is accompanied by voice saying the initial sound of the clue word in the regular (short) manner. The sector "letter" (10) continues to be intermittently lit while the speaker is sounding, then goes out and after that the "outer sector" (12) of the key of the same letter in the lower keyboard (Fig.4) gets intermittently lit.

For example, the speaker delivers the audio message with a short sound "p" and the "outer sector" of letter "p " hey in the lower keyboard gets intermittently lit. b. Operating a two-sector key (Fig.6) in lower keyboard (Fig.4) for shape group (visual- audio method) and for sound group (audio-visual method).

The lower keyboard serves for controlled identification and comprises push-buttons for switching modes (5,6,7) and an assessment screen (4). The keyboard has 26 keys bearing letters placed in the same order as in upper keyboard (Fig.3). The lower keyboard contains two-sector keys (Fig.6) comprised of:

• The "inner sector" (11).

This sector is a touch screen.

This screen has two horizontal lines in the middle.

• The "outer sector" (12).

This sector is a push button.

This sector has three identical pictures of the clue word on it This sector can be intermittently lit.

The lower keyboard itself directs the pupil by intermittent lighting of the sector "outer part" of a key matching the key in upper keyboard (Fig-3) he has practiced.

• Ih the mode fox shape groups, the order of work is the following:

Speaker delivers the audio message with the prolonged sound of the letter.

While the prolonged sound is being pronounced, letters from this shape-group appear in the "inner part" (screen) (11) of this key one by one.

If pupil thinks that the letter in the screen matches mis sound, he touches the "inner part" sector of this key.

• In the mode for sound groups, the order of work is the following:

A letter is caused to appear in the "inner part" (screen) (11) of this key by touching. While the letter is in the "inner part" (screen) the learner pushes the "outer" sector, the speaker delivers the audio message with sounds of the letters belonging to this sound-group one by one. Pupil presses the "outer part" of the key, if he thinks that the sound matches the letter in the screen.

Whether the learner succeeded or not to match sounds and letters correctly at the stage of controlled identification he has two options after this which are either to go over the same mini-cycle (same letter) or to get to the next mini-cycle (to the next letter in the same group) or to the next mini-cycle which can be a first letter in a next group.

c. Functioning of assessment screens and following actions.

After finishing a controlled identification step for letter in the group (mini-cycle) a smiley of appropriate color (green for correct, red for incorrect) appears in assessment screen in the lower keyboard. After the macro-cycle is finished the smiley of appropriate color appears in one of the cells of assessment screen of the upper keyboard (Fig.3). Colors of smileys in the assessment screen in upper keyboard (Fig.3) are following: green if the match between the letter and the sound in a group of letters is correct; yellow if at least one match between the letter and the sound in the group is correct and at least one match in the group is incorrect; red if all matches between the letter and the sound in the group of letters are incorrect. Colors of smileys in the assessment screen in lower keyboard (Fig.3) are following: green if the match between the letter and the sound is correct; red if the match between the letter and the sound is incorrect.

d. Push buttons and the speaker

The push buttons are located in the lower keyboard (5, 6, 7). There are the push buttons for switching the device:

• On/Off

• To the mode for sound group

• To the mode for shape group

The speaker is located in upper keyboard (3).

Claims

III. Claims:

1. I claim as my invention a device comprising two keyboards with two- and three-sector keys for the letters from a to z, push-buttons for switching modes, a speaker and two assessment screens;

wherein an upper keyboard bears a plurality of three-sector keys, a low keyboard bears a plurality of two-sector keys;

wherein the keyboards function by means of interaction between pairs or groups of pairs of two- and three-sector keys of the keyboards;

wherein a device functions in a sound and in a shape modes.

wherein a speaker delivers recorded audio messages by activation of sectors of two- and three-sector keys in self-teaching cycles;

wherein the assessment screen in the low keyboard is for assessing interaction between individual pairs of keys, an assessment screen in the upper keyboard is for interaction between pairs of keys in groups;

wherein an assessment screen in the upper keyboard bears plurality of cells equal to maximal number of pairs of keys either in a shape or in a sound group, an assessment screen in the lower keyboard is a screen;

wherein placement of the device in front of the learner can be accommodated to the learner's needs by putting the device so mat the upper keyboard is on the left from the learner's view and the low keyboard on the right from the learner's view or vice a versa.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein lower and upper interconnected keyboards of the device of claim 1 having pairs of keys for letters from a to z function interactively in a sound mode for sound groups and in a shape mode for shape groups of letters;

3. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein a touch screen of a two-sector key is for demonstration of letters when activated by touching;

4. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein a speaker of claim 1 is for delivering recorded audio messages in response to activation of three sectors of a three-sector key and an outer sector of a two -sector key;

5. A device according to claim 1 wherein interaction between the keyboards is embodied by interaction between pairs of 2- and 3 -sector keys which is performed in shape and sound modes of claim 2 and comprises causing a learner to choose a three-sector key of upper keyboard, activating its three sectors one by one, getting to a corresponding two-sector key in lower keyboard and activating its two sectors, getting an assessment in assessment screen of a low keyboard after finishing interaction between one pair of a three- and two-sector keys (one mini-cycle of interaction) and either getting to next 3 -sector key or getting back to the same 3 - sector key in upper keyboard and getting an assessment in one of the cells of assessment screen in the upper keyboard after finishing a group of pairs of keys;

6. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein a three-sector key of an upper keyboard is for demonstrating sound of the letter it bears in response to activation of its three sectors one after another;

7. A device according to claim 1 wherein a 3-sector key of claim 1 of upper keyboard containing sectors "picture", "letter-picture" and "letter"; wherein said sector "picture" is a key with a picture of an object which is a clue for the sound of its initial letter, wherein said sector "letter-picture" is a key with a picture of a clue word in the shape of its initial letter, wherein said sector "letter" is a key with a letter; wherein these three sectors are activated by actuation by learner one after another starting with a "picture" sector;

8. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein a three-sector key of claim 6 of upper keyboard of claim 1 directs a learner from one sector of a key to another in an automatic sequence by means of intermittent illumination of each sector of the key;

9. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein a two-sector key of a lower keyboard is for demonstration of letter in response to activation of an "inner" sector and for demonstrating sound in response to activation of an "outer" sector;

10. A device according to claim 1 wherein a 2-sector key of a lower keyboard of claim 1 for controlled identification containing an "inner sector" of claim 9 which is a touch screen with two horizontal lines in the middle activated by touching and an "outer sector" which is a key with three identical pictures of a clue word activated by actuation;

IL A device as defined in claim 1 wherein a two-sector key of lower keyboard of claim 1 directs a learner from one sector of a key to another in an automatic sequence by means intermittent illumination of each sector of the key;

12. A device as defined in claim 1; wherein in the sound mode of claim 2 controlled identification is carried out by activating speaker of claim 1 by pushing an "outer" sector of a 2-sector key of claim 9 and choosing the sound mat matches the letter in the "inner" sector by activating an "outer" sector;

13. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein in the shape mode of claim 2 controlled identification is carried out by activating by touching an "inner" sector of a 2-sector key of claim 9 which is a screen and an "outer" sector by pushing and choosing the letter mat matches the sound by touching the screen;

14. A device according to claim 1 wherein a smiley (©) appears in assessment screen of claim 1 of a lower keyboard of claim 1 after finishing one cycle of interaction between a pair of a 2- and 3-sector keys of claim 6 and 9 accordingly in a mini-cycle and in assessment screen in a upper keyboard of claim 1 in an appropriate cell after finishing cycles of interaction between pairs of a 2- and 3-sector keys in a group in a macro-cycle;

15.1 claim as my invention a method for teaching letters of the alphabet in shape and sound groups of letters by self-teaching cycles by means of providing an electronic device;

wherein self-teaching cycle of claim 15 is an interactive activity between two keyboards of claim 1 of the device for teaching letter-sound correspondences;

wherein self-teaching cycles are a mini-cycle for one letter-sound correspondence and macro-cycle is for groups of letter-sound correspondences;

wherein letters are sorted to sound and shape groups: shape-groups: f-t-r, 1-i-j, b-d-p-q, n-h-u, w-m, c-a-o-e, g-y, h-b, h-y-v, y-u; sound-groups: y — g - j, b-p-f, m-n, c-k-q, x-c-k, s-z, w-h, h

-a-u, y-i-u, u-i-e, o-w, y-w-u.

wherein mini-cycles can be rehearsed within macro-cycles repeatedly, as needed by learner for memorizing letter-sound correspondence embodied by mini-cycles;

wherein a mini-cycle comprises presentation and controlled identification with assessment for one letter-sound correspondence;

wherein presentation is introduction of letter-sound correspondences embodied by a three- sector key of claim 6 of upper keyboard of claim 1 for presentation;

wherein controlled identification is a self-control of each letter-sound correspondence embodied by a two-sector key of claim 9 of lower keyboard of claim 1 carried out in audiovisual or visual-audio regime;

wherein assessment is self-monitoring for assessing each mini-cycle and each macro-cycle embodied by assessment screens of claim 1;

16. 1 claim as my invention a method of teaching letters in a mini-cycle of claim 15 wherein the sequence of actions is carried out by a learner by activating each of three sectors of any three- sector key of claim 6 in upper keyboard for presentation of claim 1 one by one starting with a sector "picture" and causing a recorded audio message to be delivered accompanying each activated sector of three-sector keys, getting to lower keyboard for controlled identification; wherein further actions for sound group of claim 15 are activating an "outer" sector of a two- sector key of claim 9 bearing the same letter as that in upper keyboard and matching one of the sounds delivered by the speaker of claim 1 to the letter in the "inner" sector of a two-sector key, wherein at the step of controlled identification of claim 15 for shape groups the speaker delivers only one sound that has to be matched to one of the letters appearing in the screen belonging to the same group followed by the assessment screen in lower keyboard showing a smiley upon finishing said mini-cycle for a letter in a group and causing the learner either get to the next key belonging to this group of letters in upper keyboard and do the next mini-cycle with assessment indicated in lower keyboard till the letters in mis group are finished followed by the assessment screen in upper keyboard showing a smiley in a cell of this group or go over the same mini-cycle for this letter again with assessment indicated in lower keyboard;

17. A method of teaching letter-sound correspondences by means of a three-sector key of claim 6 wherein activation by pushing of said sector "picture" causes delivery of an audio message with the initial sound of the name of the object separately from the rest of the word (p-p-p- izza); wherein activation of said sector "letter-picture" causes an audio message with the sound of a letter to be delivered in a prolonged manner repetitively with short intervals (p-p- p); wherein activation of said sector "letter" causes an audio message with the initial sound of the clue word to be delivered in a regular short manner.

18. 1 claim as my invention a method of functioning of a speaker of claim 1 accompanying activation of three sectors of a three-sector key of claim 6 by delivering an audio message naming the object in the picture in the sector "picture", delivering a prolong sound in the "letter-picture" sector and a short sound in the "letter" sector in response to activation of sectors of a three-sector key one after another.

19. A method of teaching letter-sound correspondences by means of atwo-sector key of claim 9 wherein in the shape mode of claim 2 activation of an "outer" sector of a two-sector key of lower keyboard of claim 1 causes delivery of an audio message by the speaker with the initial sound of a clue word (for example, "p"), and touching of an "inner" sector causes appearance of letters from this group of letters (for example, p-b-d-q) in the touch screen; wherein in the sound mode activation of an "outer" sector causes delivery of an audio message with initial sounds of letters from the sound group of letters (for example, p-f-b) and activation of a screen causes appearance of a letter in the screen (for example, f).

20. 1 claim as my invention a method of functioning of the touch screen of the "inner" sector of a two-sector key of claim 9 in response to touching; wherein in a sound mode a letter appears in the screen, and in a shape mode a group of letters appears one by one in the touch screen of the "inner" sector of a two-sector key.

21. 1 claim as my invention a method of functioning of a speaker of claim 1 accompanying activation of atwo-sector key of claim 9 by delivering an audio message with one sound identifying letters in the touch screen of the "inner" sector in a shape mode or with a few sounds identifying a letter in the touch screen of the "inner" sector in a sound mode in response to activation of an "outer" sector of a two-sector key.

22. 1 claim as my invention a method of presentation of letters of shape and sound groups in a mini-cycle of claim 5 by means of a three-sector key of claim 6 of the upper keyboard.

23. A method according to claim 15; wherein audio-visual controlled identification in a mini- cycle in a sound group of claim 15 is carried out by touching the "inner sector" of a two-sector key of claim 9 bearing the same letter, causing appearance of the letter in the screen of the "inner sector" concurrently with the delivery of an audio message with initial sounds of the letters belonging to the same group of letters repetitively one by one; wherein sound matching the letter in the screen is selected by the learner by activating the "outer sector" of claim 9.

24. A method according to claim 15; wherein visual-audio controlled identification in a mini- cycle in a shape group of claim 15 comprises a step of pressing the "outer sector" of the two- sector key of claim 9 causing delivery of an audio message with a sound of the initial letter of the clue word repetitively and concurrently with appearance of letters from this shape group in the screen of the "inner sector" of claim 9 with a brief interval one by one; wherein a letter matching the sound is selected by the learner by touching the "inner sector" ;

25. 1 claim as my invention a method of functioning of assessment screens of claim 1 by indicating level of performance in each mini-cycle by appearance of a red, yellow or green smiley of claim 14 in an assessment screen in the lower keyboard of claim 1 and by indicating level of performance in a macro-cycle of claim 15 in an assessment screen in the upper keyboard of claim 1; wherein the assessment screen in the upper keyboard indicates finishing of a macro-cycle by appearance of a smiley of green, yellow or red color in one of 12 cells of the screen according to the order number of the group of letters; wherein the assessment screen in lower keyboard indicates finishing of a mini-cycle by appearance of a smiley of green or red color;

26. 1 claim that the method for teaching letter- sound correspondences of claim 15 by means of providing the electronic device of claim 1 can be applied to any language.