Interactive Gesture-Based Assessment for Preschool Hakka Language Learning: An Innovative Approach to Assessing Children's Proficiency

This study investigated the application and effectiveness of interactive gesture–based assessment in evaluating the Hakka language abilities of young children. Unlike traditional one-on-one assessments, this innovative approach grounded in the principles of playful learning employs the interactive environment of computer games to provide immediate feedback on correctness, thereby facilitating self-learning during gameplay. This approach generally reduces stranger anxiety and helps children naturally engage with the gaming context. Qualitative research methods, including observations and interviews with children aged 3–6 and their teachers, were employed, and the results revealed that the use of interactive gesture–based assessment reduced the levels of fear associated with evaluation and encouraged the children to engage with the game. This in turn yielded higher response quality, with responses accurately reflecting the children’s actual Hakka language abilities. These findings confirm the feasibility of using interactive gesture–based assessment for evaluating young children’s Hakka language skills and indicate that establishing a large-scale systematic evaluation method may improve assessment efficiency. Future software development, particularly that utilizing artificial intelligence, may further facilitate effective language assessments. The primary limitation of this pilot study was its small sample size. Therefore, future studies should include larger samples to conduct in-depth analyses and refine the application of interactive gesture–based assessment in language assessments for young children. This study may assist with enhancing the quality of language teaching and assessment by offering a novel interactive approach to language acquisition in educational practice.