AN East Lancashire primary school is at the centre of a unique multi-language experiment.

Computer software will allow Asian heritage pupils whose first language is not English to work in their mother tongue.

If successful, it is hoped that the pioneering software used at Lammack Community Primary School, Blackburn, will be rolled out to be used in schools in other areas with Asian populations, such as in Burnley and Pendle.

The new Talk-2-Talk software program, developed by Derby-based company Resource Education, allows Asian heritage pupils to listen to a computer voice instantly translated into their mother tongue of Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu, as well as English.

Its aim is for children to listen to information and instructions in their own language and switch between languages while learning about other topics, such as maths.

In this way, languages are acquired as a by-product rather than having to specifically teach it.

Staff at the Lammack Road school provided the basic voice patterns for the Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu versions of the software, and pupils have been testing out the programs, including music, maths and art, over the last month.

Tomorrow, the school will host an official launch on a digital projector and large screen, and around 50 teachers from local schools have been invited to the event - all will be given a free CD of the new software.

Several pupils will be on hand to demonstrate the software.

Headteacher Mary Lewis said that the project had been a success.

And Liz Alderson, e-learning consultant with Blackburn with Darwen e-learning services, said: "There has been nothing like this previously.

"For the first time all the children in the class can hear Gujarati, Punjabi or Urdu spoken, and all the children can see that they are all doing the same lessons, even if some are hearing them in a different language.

"This multi-lingual work now spreads across the whole curriculum.

"For example, the Year 5 class has been using the music-maker program, and through having the instructions in their own language, many children who showed no interest in music before are now fully engaged in the subject."