Improvement of Japanese adults' English speaking skills via experiences speaking to a robot.

This paper reports how robot‐assisted language learning (RALL) impacts Japanese adults' English speaking skills. With existing research on RALL focusing on children, there is little evidence indicating RALL's effects on adults. We developed a RALL system comprising a robot, a tablet, and designed le...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Computer Assisted Learning Vol. 35; no. 2; pp. 228 - 246
Main Authors: Iio, Takamasa, Maeda, Ryota, Ogawa, Kohei, Yoshikawa, Yuichiro, Ishiguro, Hiroshi, Suzuki, Kaori, Aoki, Tomohiro, Maesaki, Miharu, Hama, Mika
Format: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Apr2019
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Apr2019
      vid: 35
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
      place: Malden, Massachusetts
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        10.1111/jcal.12325
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        atl: Improvement of Japanese adults' English speaking skills via experiences speaking to a robot.
      aug:
        au:
          Iio, Takamasa
          Maeda, Ryota
          Ogawa, Kohei
          Yoshikawa, Yuichiro
          Ishiguro, Hiroshi
          Suzuki, Kaori
          Aoki, Tomohiro
          Maesaki, Miharu
          Hama, Mika
        affil: University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba Japan
      sug:
        subj:
          English as a Second Language
          Speech Intelligibility
          Skill Acquisition Methods
          Public Speaking
          Japanese Persons In Adulthood
          Robotics Equipment and Supplies
          Students, College
          Student Experiences
          Human
          Adolescence
          Adult
          Female
          Random Sample
          Videorecording
          Pretest-Posttest Design
          Computer-Assisted Instruction
          Program Development
          Pilot Studies
          Comparative Studies
          Speech Rate
          Learning Methods
          Computer Hardware
          Software Design
          Role Playing
          Descriptive Statistics
          Analysis of Variance
          Post Hoc Analysis
          Language Processing
          Grammar
          Repeated Measures
          Task Performance and Analysis
          Funding Source
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Female
      ab: This paper reports how robot‐assisted language learning (RALL) impacts Japanese adults' English speaking skills. With existing research on RALL focusing on children, there is little evidence indicating RALL's effects on adults. We developed a RALL system comprising a robot, a tablet, and designed learning materials for speaking practice. To explore the effects of this system on the speaking skills of adults, we conducted a pretest and posttest designed pilot experiment. The participants in this study were nine female Japanese university students. The participants used the system for speaking practice for a total of 30 min per day for 7 days. The results of comparing the pretests with the posttests demonstrated that the adults' English speaking skills were enhanced; in particular, their speaking accuracy, fluency, and pronunciation improved greatly. This study contributes to providing clear evidence of the effects of RALL on Japanese adults' English speaking skills. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Japanese peoples' English skills, especially speaking skills, have not improved enough in recent years.Robot‐assisted language learning (RALL) is considered to be one of the solutions to these problems.Researchers have shown that RALL have positive effects on children's language learning motivation and achievements.But there are no studies that demonstrate whether adults' speaking skills improved after RALL. What their paper adds to this: We developed a RALL system, in which a robot acts as an interlocutor in conversation, for speaking practice.We conducted an experiment where the participants who are Japanese undergraduates used the system for a total of 30 min per day for 7 days.The results of comparing the pretests with the posttests demonstrated that the adults' English speaking skills were enhanced; in particular, their speaking accuracy, fluency, and pronunciation. The implications of study findings for practitioners: This study provided clear evidence for RALL's effects on adults' English speaking skills.In particular, Japanese undergraduates improved their speaking accuracy, fluency, and pronunciation greatly.The findings will encourage adults who are not good at speaking English despite many years of English education in school.The findings demonstrated the availability of RALL on enhancing English speaking skills.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        pictorial
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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