Experimental Studies of the Affordances of Assistive Multimodal Learning Designs: Universal Design for Learning in Modern Language Classrooms

This paper presents the data from two empirical studies of the learning affordances of a novel sui-generis language learning material, whose design is guided by universal design for learning (UDL) principles. Excepting a pilot study, the two studies appear to be the first outside the US to explore UDL principles and technology integration in language classrooms. The author conducted 9 + 14 interviews of stratified respondents from experimental studies in two year-seven language classrooms after a series of three interventions. In the interventions, three ebook prototypes with UDL-guided digital scaffolds were used in regular teaching, collaboratively planned, implemented, and evaluated by the teacher in question and the author. The paper in part supports earlier findings from previous UDL empirical studies in language learning but elaborates individual learners' learning experiences interacting with individual scaffolds, studying how lexical acquisition and competence and self-regulated learning can be scaffolded in a componential UDL design.