Design, development and validation of a mobile application to prevent the extinction of the “Taushiro” language in Loreto, Peru

Abstract

The present work has included the design, development and validation of a mobile application oriented to the preservation and rescue of the native Peruvian language, in process of extinction, called "Taushiro". Peru is a multicultural country that officially has 48 native languages. From them to 17 have problems of extinction, although 4 of these languages are almost extinct, one of them is Taushiro, which has only one survivor over 70 years, who participated with his voice and knowledge of their culture in the development of the mobile application. Functional and non-functional requirements have been identified based on the conditions of urban and rural spaces for the use of the application. The offline mobile application was generated, for the basic learning of Taushiro through the sounds of the only speaker. Its interactive contents are oriented to children from cities and rural communities and are classified through vowels, numbers, basic phrases, colors, fauna and flora, etc. The validation was carried out in an educational institution in the city of Iquitos, 24 children between 6 and 7 years old participated. The results have been satisfactory with respect to the interest and learning of the children towards the Taushiro language, however, it is necessary that this initiative be complemented with other instruments (with more advanced contents) and other activities and instruments.