English grammar learning supporting system

Abstract

To provide an English grammar learning supporting system enabling a user to easily acquire English grammar.SOLUTION: An English grammar learning supporting system 1 includes: a word database 121 which stores English words and coupling graphics whose shapes differ by every word group sharing characteristics of English words in association with each other; a question database 122 which stores order numbers showing word order of the English words in correct English sentence answers and word IDs being identifiers uniquely assigned to the English words, in the word order in questions translating Japanese into English; and a control unit which causes a user terminal 3 to display a guide frame GF, at timing corresponding to an answering state of a user, in a manner of enabling the guide frame GF to become a background of the word card. Therein: the guide frame GF is formed in a shape of a coupling graphic of a case where word cards displaying English words on coupling graphics are connected in order matching word orders of words included in the correct English answers of the Japanese translating into English questions; and the guide frame GF has color / patterns and "shade" which can be distinguished from the word card and the background.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 14

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an English grammar learning support system. [Background technology]

[0002] With the availability of communication networks such as the Internet, globalization is accelerating. Based on this awareness, the need to acquire English is becoming more important than ever. English language study is now included as a subject from elementary school onwards, and an increasing number of parents are sending their children to cram schools from the early years of elementary school to study English in addition to school classes.

[0003] By the way, the purpose of learning English is to acquire the ability to communicate one's intentions to others and understand their intentions using English. Therefore, this goal cannot be achieved by simply memorizing a large number of English words or memorizing conversation patterns such as simple greetings. In order to communicate one's intentions, it is impossible to avoid learning English grammar.

[0004] However, it is not easy to teach elementary school students or preschoolers the English grammar they need to be able to communicate in English. Many current teachers, in particular, began learning English in junior high school, and there are frequent cases where they are unsure of how to teach this to them.

[0005] In light of this background, teaching materials aimed at mastering English grammar in a game-like manner have been devised (for example, Patent Document 1).

[0006] However, this technology requires a certain level of knowledge of English grammar, and is too difficult for preschool children with no knowledge of English. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] JP2011-034032A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an English grammar learning support system that enables a user to easily learn English grammar. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention provides an English grammar learning support system comprising: a word database that stores English words in association with combined figures having different shapes for each group of words that have common properties among the English words; a question database that stores Japanese-to-English translation questions in accordance with the word order, along with sequence numbers indicating the word order of the English words in a correct English answer and word IDs which are identifiers uniquely assigned to the English words; and a control unit that causes a user terminal to display a guide frame having a color, pattern and "shadow" that can be distinguished from the word cards and background, which has the shape of the combined figure when word cards displaying the English words in the combined figure are linked in an order that matches the word order of the words included in the correct English answer to the Japanese-to-English translation question, so as to become the background of the word cards at a timing according to the user's answering status. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an English grammar learning support system that allows users to easily learn English grammar. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an English grammar learning support system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of a word database. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in a graphic master of a word database. [Figure 4] 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating an example of the data structure of a question database and stored data. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a control unit. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing examples of combining figures for each personal pronoun. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing examples of singular common nouns (regular changes), endings of singular common nouns (regular changes), and combinations of proper nouns. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing examples of combinations of regular verbs (regular conjugations), endings of regular verbs (regular conjugations), articles, and auxiliary verbs. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a combination diagram of symbols. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing examples of conjugations for the verb "be." [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a learning screen displayed on a user terminal. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example in which a user gives an incorrect answer. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a learning screen for prompting a user to give the next answer; [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a response when a user forgets an article. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an answer when a user places a word card with an appropriate article in the correct position. [Figure 16] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an answer when a user completes creating a correct answer. [Figure 17] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a conjugation diagram for the verb "be" and a guide frame. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] An English grammar learning support system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an English grammar learning support system according to this embodiment (hereinafter, referred to as support system 1).

[0014] 1, the support system 1 includes a main server 10, which includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, an input / output unit 13, and a communication unit 14. The main server 10 can be configured using a so-called computer or a server computer.

[0015] The control unit 11 includes a calculation device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

[0016] The storage unit 12 includes a storage device such as a memory, a hard disk drive, or an SSD (Solid State Drive).

[0017] The storage unit 12 stores a word DB 121 (hereinafter, database is referred to as DB) and a question DB 122.

[0018] The input / output unit 13 includes input / output devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, a display, or a touch panel display.

[0019] The communication unit 14 includes a communication device that communicates via a public communication network such as the Internet, or a narrow-area communication network such as a wireless LAN (local area network).

[0020] The communication unit 14 communicates with the user terminal 3 via the Internet 2. The user terminal 3 may be a so-called personal computer, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, a television device equipped with an operation system capable of executing apps and capable of communicating via the Internet 2, or a home game machine.

[0021] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of the word DB 121. The word DB 121 can be realized by a relational database. As shown in Fig. 2, the word DB 121 stores a word master, a part of speech master, and a figure master.

[0022] The word master stores English words, the Japanese meaning of each English word, and the part of speech ID of the part of speech to which the English word corresponds, which is an identifier uniquely assigned to each part of speech.

[0023] The part-of-speech master stores part-of-speech IDs, parts of speech, and part-of-speech category IDs which are identifiers uniquely assigned to part-of-speech categories that are further subdivided categories of parts of speech.

[0024] The part-of-speech ID of the word master is set to have a relationship (associated by a pointer) with the part-of-speech ID of the part-of-speech master.

[0025] The graphic master stores, for each part-of-speech category ID, a part-of-speech category and a combined graphic that is a graphic set corresponding to the part-of-speech category. The combined graphic has a different shape for each group of words that share a common property among English words.

[0026] For example, when it comes to personal pronouns, "I," "You," "We," "They," "He," "She," and "It" are groups of words that share common properties, such as the conjugation form of the following verb "be" and whether or not it is necessary to add "s" or "es" to the end of general verbs.

[0027] The part-of-speech classification ID of the part-of-speech master is set in a relationship with the part-of-speech classification ID of the figure master.

[0028] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in the graphic master of the word DB 121. As shown in Fig. 3, the graphic master stores, for example, "V1" in the part of speech classification ID, "general verb regular change" in the part of speech classification, and an L-shaped trionomy (a general term for a figure formed by three squares) in the combined figure.

[0029] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure and stored data of the question DB 122. As shown in Fig. 4, the question master stores a question ID, which is an identifier uniquely assigned to each question, a Japanese sentence which is a question sentence translated from Japanese to English, an English answer which is an answer to the question, and an answer help which is help regarding the answer.

[0030] The English answer stores a sequence number obtained by the word order from the beginning of the sentence for each word of the answer, and the word ID of the word arranged at this sequence number.

[0031] An example of the data that may be stored is the question ID "JE0101001", the Japanese text "I eat one apple", the English answers (in order from the beginning of the sentence) are sequence number "01", word ID "N1001", sequence number "02", word ID "V1001", sequence number "03", word ID "A002", sequence number "04", word ID "N2001", sequence number "05", word ID "S001", and the answer help is "The first sound of the word apple is a vowel, so we use "an."

[0032] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the operation of the control unit 11 provided in the main server 10 of the support system 1. As shown in Fig. 5, when the control unit 11 of the support system 1 receives a login request from the user terminal 3, it performs authentication using a known technique, and then in step 501 transmits a list of questions to the user terminal 3 to display it.

[0033] In step 502, the user terminal 3 transmits a question request, which is a signal requesting a question specified by the user, to the main server.

[0034] In step 503 , the control unit 11 transmits the requested question to the user terminal 3 .

[0035] In step 504, the user terminal 3 displays the received question on the display, and arranges the words by arranging the word cards selected by the user from the card case CC in the designated positions in the answer area AA displayed on the display.

[0036] In step 505, the control unit 11 judges whether the position of the arranged word is correct. If the control unit 11 judges that the position of the arranged word is not correct (N in step 505), the process proceeds to step 506, and if the control unit 11 judges that the position of the arranged word is correct (Y in step 505), the process proceeds to step 508.

[0037] In step 506, the control unit 11 transmits a signal to the user terminal 3 indicating that the answer is incorrect, and causes the user terminal 3 to display that the answer is incorrect, and causes the user to display a message to return the word card of the word that the user placed to the card case CC.

[0038] In step 507 , the user terminal 3 refreshes the display screen and returns to step 504 .

[0039] In step 508, the control unit 11 transmits a signal indicating the correct answer to the user terminal 3, causing the user terminal 3 to display that the answer is correct.

[0040] In step 509, the control unit 11 judges whether the English answer to the question is complete. If the control unit 11 judges that the English answer to the question is not complete (N in step 509), the control unit 11 proceeds to step 510, and if the control unit 11 judges that the English answer to the question is complete (Y in step 509), the control unit 11 proceeds to step 512.

[0041] In step 510, the control unit 11 transmits to the user terminal 3 a continuation request, which is a signal prompting the user to continue replying.

[0042] In step 511 , the user terminal 3 displays on the display a message urging the user to continue, as indicated by the received continuation request, and then returns to step 504 .

[0043] In step 512, the control unit 11 transmits to the user terminal 3 a sentence completion signal indicating that the answer English sentence has been completed.

[0044] In step 513, the user terminal 3 displays on the display a message indicating that the answer English sentence is complete based on the received sentence completion information, and ends the process for the first question.

[0045] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a compound figure for each personal pronoun. As shown in Fig. 6, the compound figure of a nominative word that can be a subject among personal pronouns is a figure with the upper right end missing.

[0046] And, the third person singular word is also shorter in horizontal length as viewed in FIG. 6 than the first, second, and third person plural words.

[0047] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing examples of singular common nouns (regular changes), endings of singular common nouns (regular changes), and combinations of proper nouns.

[0048] As shown in Figure 7, the compound figure of a singular common noun (regular conjugation) is a square with a small square added to the bottom right edge, the compound figure of the ending of a singular common noun (regular conjugation) is a stepped quatonomy (a general term for the figure made by combining four squares), and the compound figure of a proper noun is a square with a small square added to the bottom right edge.

[0049] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing examples of compound verbs of regular verbs (regular change), suffixes of regular verbs (regular change), articles, and auxiliary verbs. As shown in Fig. 8, the compound verb of regular verbs (regular change) is an inverted L-shaped trionomy, the compound verb of the suffix of regular verbs (regular change), the article, and the auxiliary verb "Do" is a vertically long rectangle, and the compound verb of the auxiliary verb "Dos" is a square.

[0050] The reason why each compound figure has such a shape is that when a compound figure for a regular verb (regular conjugation) is placed behind a word card or combination of word cards of a noun that can be a subject, it forms an exact rectangle, which makes it easy to see the guide frame GF described below.

[0051] In addition, if a word card for a third person singular personal pronoun is connected to a word card for a regular verb (regular conjugation), the length of the word card for the ending of the regular verb (regular conjugation) will be shorter than if a word card for a regular verb (regular conjugation) was connected to a word card for the first, second, and third person plural.

[0052] Therefore, the user can learn that when combining a word card for a third person singular personal pronoun with a word card for a regular verb (regular conjugation), it is necessary to add the word card for the ending of the regular verb (regular conjugation), i.e., s or es.

[0053] Similarly, when forming a question, if the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person plural word card is the subject, select the rectangular Do word card, and if the 3rd person singular word card is the subject, select the square Does word card, and they will all be the same size rectangle.

[0054] Thus, the user can learn how to use Do and Does differently as described above. The size of the rectangle to be created can be shown to the user by displaying a guide frame GF (in this embodiment, the first guide frame GF1 to the third guide frame GF3 are used as examples) in the answer area AA, which will be described later. The control unit 11 displays the guide frame GF in the answer area AA at a timing according to the user's answering situation.

[0055] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a combined symbol shape. As shown in Fig. 9, a vertically long rectangle can be adopted as the combined symbol shape of "." (period) and "?".

[0056] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a compound figure of the verb "be". As shown in Fig. 10, the compound figure of the verb "be" is a shape obtained by changing the horizontal length of an inverted L-shaped trionomy by lengthening or shortening it.

[0057] For questions that use the verb "be," the guide frame GF is changed to match the subject and the verb "be" to be used. Details will be described later.

[0058] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a learning screen SC displayed on the user terminal 3. As shown in Fig. 11, the learning screen SC includes a question display area QS where a question is displayed, an answer area AA where the user creates an answer, a message area MS where a tutorial or help message is displayed for the user (in Fig. 11, a first message area MS1 where a first message is displayed is shown), an opening frame switch GFS for specifying whether or not to display a guide frame GF, a card case CC where flashcards are displayed in groups according to types such as parts of speech, a confirmation button CB to be pressed when a flashcard is changed, and a status character PG that changes depending on the status of the answer (in Fig. 11, a first status character PG1 is shown).

[0059] First, the control unit 11 causes the user terminal 3 to display the question selected by the user in the question display area QS.

[0060] Next, the control unit 11 displays the first guide frame GF1 in the answer area AA.

[0061] The user selects a first word card WD1 representing "I" from the card case CC and drags and drops it onto the guide frame GF of the answer area AA.

[0062] Here, the guide frame GF is displayed as the background of the word cards in the answer area AA. The guide frame GF has a different color and pattern from the color and pattern of the answer area AA, and also has a "shadow" which is a shape that is the same as the shape of the guide frame GF but has a different color and pattern and is displayed offset from the guide frame GF.

[0063] Next, the control unit 11 displays a first message area MS1, which is a hint to the answer, in the answer area AA.

[0064] Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a case where the user gives an incorrect answer. As shown in Fig. 12, when the noun "apple" is placed in the position where the verb word card should be inserted, a part of the first guide frame GF1 is visible, and furthermore, the "shadow" of the first guide frame GF1 is different from the outline of the selected and combined combined figure.

[0065] Therefore, the user can realize that the answer is incorrect. Then, the control unit 11 displays the second message area MS2, which is a hint to the answer, in the answer area AA.

[0066] Here, the control unit 11 judges whether the user's answer is correct or not by referring to the sequence number and word ID of the English answer stored in the question master of the question DB 122.

[0067] When the user places the second word card WD2, which has "eat" displayed, next to the first word card from the card case CC, the control unit 11 displays a third message area MS3 in the answer area AA indicating that the answer is correct and indicating the next hint.

[0068] Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the learning screen SC when prompting the next answer. As shown in Fig. 13, the control unit 11 displays a second guide frame GF2 having the same shape as the shape of the connected combined figure when the next answer is correct in the answer area AA so as to be the background of the flashcard.

[0069] At this time, the control unit 11 changes the first status character PG1 to the second status character PG2 to prompt the user to reply.

[0070] Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a response when the user forgets the article. As shown in Fig. 14, when the fourth word card WD4 showing the noun "apple" is placed in the position where the third word card WD3 showing the article "an" should be inserted, part of the second guide frame GF2 is visible, and furthermore, the "shadow" of the second guide frame GF2 is different from the outline of the selected and combined combined figure.

[0071] Therefore, the user can realize that the answer is incorrect. Then, the control unit 11 displays the fourth message area MS4, which is a hint to the answer, in the answer area AA.

[0072] At this time, the control unit 11 changes the second status character PG2 to a third status character PG3 to prompt the user to reply.

[0073] Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of an answer when the user places a word card with an appropriate article in the correct position. As shown in Fig. 15, when the user places the third word card WD3, which shows the appropriate article "an", in front of the fourth word card WD4 from the card case CC, the control unit 11 displays the fifth message area MS5 in the answer area AA, indicating that the answer is correct and indicating the next hint.

[0074] Then, the control unit 11 displays a third guide frame GF3, which has the same shape as the shape of the connected combined figure when the next answer is correct, in the answer area AA so as to become the background of the word card.

[0075] At this time, the control unit 11 changes the third status character PG3 to a fourth status character PG4 to prompt the user to reply.

[0076] Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of an answer when the user completes creating a correct answer. As shown in Fig. 16, when the user places the fifth word card WD5 marked with "." in the answer area AA, the user can visually see that the shape of the combined figure of the linked word cards and the shape of the third guide frame GF3 overlap in a matching state, so the user can recognize that the correct answer has been completed.

[0077] Then, the control unit 11 displays a fifth message area MS5 in the answer area AA, indicating that the answer is correct.

[0078] At this time, the control unit 11 changes the fourth status character PG4 to a fifth status character PG5, notifies the user that the answer was correct, the current accumulated points, and the like, and encourages further learning.

[0079] Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a compound figure of the verb "be" and a guide frame. As shown in Fig. 17, the compound figure of the verb "be" has a shape in which the horizontal length of the compound figure of the general verb is changed so that each of "am", "are", and "is" has a different length.

[0080] Here, as shown in FIG. 6, "I," "You," "We," and "They," and the third person singular "He," "She," and "It" have mutually different shapes of compound figures.

[0081] Therefore, when the subject of the personal pronoun and the verb to be are correctly combined, the resulting combination figures are different from each other, and therefore the shapes of the guide frames GF in this case are also different from each other.

[0082] If the user incorrectly connects the flashcards, as shown in "Incorrect Connection" in Figure 17, the shape of the connected combined figure will be different from the shape of the guide frame GF, so the user will be able to recognize that the combination is incorrect.

[0083] The questions can be displayed on the user terminal 3 in a random order regardless of the type of verb, or the order can be changed as needed according to the type of verb or the type of subject to suit the convenience of the teacher.

[0084] In addition, in the above embodiment, an example is shown in which learning progresses while the main server 10 and the user terminal 3 communicate with each other via the Internet 2, but it is also possible to consolidate the learning into one application that does not require communication and install it on the user terminal 3, which is a standalone personal computer or game machine, for implementation.

[0085] Furthermore, the word cards and guide frame GF can be printed on a medium such as paper in a cut-out format and distributed together with a workbook printed on paper. In this case, using it together with the support system 1 further enhances the learning effect.

[0086] As described above, the support system 1 of this embodiment comprises a word DB 121 that stores English words in association with compound figures having different shapes for each group of words that have common properties among the English words; a question DB 122 that stores Japanese-to-English translation questions in accordance with a sequence number indicating the word order of the English words in a correct English answer and a word ID which is an identifier uniquely assigned to the English word, and a control unit that displays on a user terminal a guide frame GF that has a color, pattern and "shadow" that can be distinguished from the word cards and background, and that has the shape of a compound figure when word cards displaying English words in a compound figure are linked in an order that matches the word order of the words included in the correct English answer to the Japanese-to-English translation question, so as to become the background of the word cards at a timing according to the user's answering status.

[0087] Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an English grammar learning support system that allows a user to easily learn English grammar.

[0088] In particular, when teaching English in classes, the level of understanding of each student varies greatly, but by using the support system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide detailed instruction according to the student's level of understanding.

[0089] Please note that the contents of this patent application document are copyrighted by the applicant / inventor. Therefore, if an unauthorized third party prints the above-mentioned flashcards and guide frame GF on a medium such as paper in a cuttable format, or distributes them together with a problem set printed on paper, this may infringe the copyright of the applicant / inventor, regardless of whether or not there is a patent infringement. [Explanation of symbols]

[0090] 1. English Grammar Learning Support System 2. Internet 3. User terminal 10 Main Server 11 Control section 12 Storage section 13 Input / output section 14 Communications Department 121 Word Database 122 Problem Database 121 Word Database 122 Problem Database AA Answer Area CB Confirm button CC Card Case GF Guide Frame GF1 First Guide Frame GF2 2nd guide frame GF3 3rd guide frame GFS Opening Frame Switch MS Message Area MS1 1st Message Area MS2 Second Message Area MS3 3rd Message Area MS4 4th Message Area MS5 5th Message Area PG Status Character PG1 First status character PG2 Second status character PG3 Third status character PG4 4th status character PG5 5th status character QS Question display area SC Learning Screen WD1 1st Word Card WD2 2nd Word Card WD3 3rd Word Card WD4 4th Word Card WD5 5th Word Card

Claims

[Claim 1] a word database storing English words and compound figures having different shapes for each group of words having a common property among the English words in association with each other; a question database that stores Japanese-to-English translation questions in accordance with the word order of the correct English answer, together with a sequence number indicating the word order of the English words and a word ID that is an identifier uniquely assigned to the English word; a control unit that causes a user terminal to display a guide frame having a color, pattern, and "shadow" that can be distinguished from the word cards and background, the guide frame having a shape that corresponds to the shape of the combined figure when the word cards that display the English words in the combined figure are connected in an order that matches the word order of the words included in the correct English answer to the Japanese-to-English translation question, in a manner that corresponds to the user's answer status, as the background of the word cards; An English grammar learning support system.

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