Human Language Technologies (HLT) – OpenSpell

OpenSpell is a wacky, educational game that targets spelling skills, especially designed for kids in developing regions. It has been released free of charge in all 11 official South African languages. It is easy to use and easy to edit, so teachers can modify this game to suit their classroom, curriculum, and dialect.

The game was the inspiration of visiting researcher and linguist, Dr Madelaine Plauché and open source software developer Richard Carlson. Both hail from Texas USA and have collaborated on similar language software projects for communities in developing countries. “Although computers are made available in rural areas and small community centres worldwide, it has become apparent that almost no local language software exists,” says Plauché.

OpenSpell was developed by Plauché, Carlson and the CSIR's Human Language Technologies research group in consultation with primary school educators from around Gauteng.

The game consists of a simple interactive computer-based activity that can be set at three levels (easy, medium and hard). Feedback to learners is in the form of fun rewards or penalties.

The second component of the game allows tutors to edit the key board and record sounds. “Anyone can use the software to customise it to a language or dialect,” Plauché explains. “I see it as a valuable tool in working towards an equitable spread of software support for non-dominant languages,” she said.

The software has been released under a Gnu General Public License (GPL) which removes restrictions on distributing copies of a work for others, while requiring that the same freedoms be preserved in modified versions.
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