The 7 Keys of the Dragon: An e-learning game-like environment for Albanian and Russian

In this article we report on the development of an interactive open source extensible software, dubbed The 7 Keys of the Dragon, for the teaching/learning of Albanian and Russian to students (9-12 years old) with the respective languages as their heritage languages. Based on the assumption that games in language learning are associated with intrinsic motivation and meaningful exposure to the target language, the environment is set on the basis of a fictional storyline in which the wizard of a village is captured by a dragon. The user needs to go through certain learning tasks in order to collect enough points that would allow him/her to set the wizard free. A variety of scaffolding materials (synchronized audio texts, translations, glossaries), quiz types and in-class or at home activities accompany each of the ten texts that comprise the current version of the environment. The software is designed to provide real-time correction of all quizzes. A separate application for teachers facilitates essay correction and commenting on the students’ language learning progress and achievements. The e-learning environment builds on constructivist and transformative pedagogy.