User experience of a mobile speaking application with automatic speech recognition for EFL learning

Abstract

With the spread of mobile devices, mobile phones have enormous potential regarding their pedagogical use in language education. The goal of this study is to analyse user experience of a mobile‐based learning system that is enhanced by speech recognition technology for the improvement of EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' speaking proficiency. Speaking English 60 Junior, which is developed for middle‐school students in Korea, is equipped with automatic speech recognition (ASR) for students' self‐regulated speaking practice. Open‐ended survey questions were used to gain insight into users' reactions. The results showed that the students, overall, had positive attitudes towards the use of the application for learning to speak. They particularly expressed great interest in the speech recognition function because it immediately demonstrated the consequence of their speech input. The speech‐interactive activity, in which they interacted with a virtual character via ASR, also received positive comments. The findings highlight the potential use of mobile phones and ASR for learning to speak in the EFL context. Recommendations for future research are discussed based on the results of this study.

Students’ Perceptions towards Using Mobile Application in Learning Speaking

“…When they feel unsatisfied with their speaking, they will repeat it so that this kind of activity can help the students to improve their speaking skills. This is in line with the statement conveyed by Ahn & Lee (2016) who have researched mobile application for learning speaking. They argue that doing recording and repetition while learning to speak is an effective way to help improving speaking skill.…”

“…Moreover, a large number of mobile applications have been designed for English speaking learning. It is mentioned that in the EFL context, speaking has been considered as the most challenging skill for students, and it is unable to offer enough opportunities for speaking practice (Ahn & Lee, 2016). Several studies even noted that EFL students face numerous problems in learning English speaking.…”

Disrupting Education Using Smart Mobile Pedagogies

“…Four of these nine papers were from Singaporean projects with primary/elementary school-aged learners, three focusing on science learning (Looi, Sun, & Xie, 2015;Toh, So, Seow, & Chen, 2017;Zhang et al, 2010) and one on language learning (Wong, Chai, Zhang, & King, 2015). The remaining five papers were from projects in South Korea (Ahn & Lee, 2016), focusing on language learning of middle school students; Israel (Barak & Ziv, 2013), focusing on middle school environmental education; the Netherlands (Schmitz, Klemke, Walhout, & Specht, 2015), focusing on the context of health education; Australia (Bower, Howe, McCredie, Robinson, & Grover, 2014), focusing on secondary school visual arts; and the USA (Akom, Shah, Nakai, & Cruz, 2016), focusing on community learning. Of these nine papers, only two papers (Akom et al, 2016;Toh et al, 2017) focused on practices that were perceived by the research team as demonstrating high levels of mobile pedagogical innovation, containing pedagogical elements that could potentially disrupt traditional practices (see Fig.…”

Diseño y evaluación de una intervención didáctica basada en aprendizaje móvil para mejorar la IO de estudiantes de ELE

“…Un tercer estudio contemporáneo que se refiere a la mejora de la destreza oral, es el adelantado en Corea por Ahn & Lee (2015). Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo analizar las experiencias y percepciones de los usuarios de Speaking English 60 Junior, un sistema con reconocimiento de voz para el aprendizaje del inglés como LE.…”

“…En este estudio de caso, 67 estudiantes de EFL (English as a Foreign Language) de la Universidad Tohoku de Japón produjeron un vídeo semanal de 30 segundos con la cámara de su móvil, durante 12 semanas, partiendo de un tema propuesto por el profesor pero que ellos deberían adaptar, delimitar y orientar. Los resultados de este estudio mostraron que los estudiantes pudieron producir videos con historias digitales para expresar sus opiniones, y que esta tarea fue percibida como relevante para el aprendizaje de la segunda lengua.Un tercer estudio contemporáneo que se refiere a la mejora de la destreza oral, es el adelantado en Corea por Ahn & Lee (2015). Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo analizar las experiencias y percepciones de los usuarios de Speaking English 60 Junior, un sistema con reconocimiento de voz para el aprendizaje del inglés como LE.…”