Muzakki Bashori, Roeland van Hout, Helmer Strik, Catia Cucchiarini
Speaking skills generally receive little attention in traditional English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms, and this is especially the case in secondary education in Indonesia. A vocabulary deficit and poor pronunciation skills hinder learners in their efforts to improve speaking proficiency. In the present study, we investigated the effects of using two language learning websites, I Love Indonesia (ILI) and NovoLearning (NOVO). These websites are equipped with Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology, with each website providing different types of immediate feedback. We measured written receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge of 40 target words before and after the intervention in which 146 students practiced with these two ASR-based websites, and compared it to that of a control group (n = 86). The ASR-based websites successfully helped students enhance their receptive vocabulary. Twenty-four students participated in a spoken pre-and post-test pronouncing the same 40 target words. We successfully developed an approach to measure pronunciation skills which showed that the treatment groups outperformed the control group. Our results indicate that our technology is successful in improving vocabulary and pronunciation skills. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Faculty of Social Sciences, Semarang State University, Semarang, Indonesia; Centre for Language and Speech Technology (CLST), Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands; NovoLearning BV, Nijmegen, Netherlands
