Natural language in introductory programming: an experimental study

Authors:
Osvaldo Luiz Oliveira;Ana Maria Monteiro;Norton Trevisan Roman
Affiliations:
Faculty of Campo Limpo Paulista, Campo Limpo Paulista (SP), Brazil;Faculty of Campo Limpo Paulista, Campo Limpo Paulista (SP), Brazil;University of São Paulo, São Paulo (SP), Brazil
Venue:
Proceedings of the 16th annual joint conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
Year:
2011

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Abstract

Although characterized as being "high level", classical programming languages such as Pascal and C have a grammar that is very different from natural language. In this research field, two main streams are noteworthy, one of them is characterized by an attempt to facilitate the understanding of the grammar of classic programming languages [1] and the other investigates how one may design languages for novices which are in line with their natural way of thinking about programming [2]. Focusing in the learning of concepts such as sequence of sentences that express actions, conditions and repetitions, we conducted an experimental study to investigate the hypothesis that the use of natural language can facilitate learning introductory programming.