Animated pedagogical agents to teach kindergarteners selected English vocabulary

Animated pedagogical agent (APA) is a vital instructional tool in kindergartens. However, most kindergarteners are still conventionally taught basic second language words by flashcards especially by those in rural areas. Hence, this research explored the use of APA on teaching rural kindergarteners second language basic words. The software was built and tested on 40 kindergarteners of a kindergarten in a rural area of Malaysia. The items tested were English words and sentences. Pre-test and post-test were conducted on these kindergarteners using five topics of words and sentences. The results showed a significant gain from the pre-test and the posttest. These findings supported other data that APA, a multimedia instructional environment, offers great potential for assisting beginner learners of a second language.