Evaluating intelligent personal assistants for L2 listening and speaking development

While the use of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) has exploded in recent years, little is known about their use to promote English as a foreign language (EFL) development. Thus, this study addresses this gap in the literature by examining the in-class use of the IPA, Alexa, among second langua...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inLanguage learning & technology Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 16 - 26
Main Author Dizon, Gilbert
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center 01.02.2020
Subjects
Educational Technology
English (Second Language)
Expressive Language
Foreign Countries
Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Language Proficiency
Listening Comprehension
Oral Language
Program Effectiveness
Receptive Language
Second Language Instruction
Student Attitudes
Teaching Methods
Undergraduate Students
Japan
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:While the use of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) has exploded in recent years, little is known about their use to promote English as a foreign language (EFL) development. Thus, this study addresses this gap in the literature by examining the in-class use of the IPA, Alexa, among second language (L2) English students to support improvements in listening comprehension and speaking proficiency. The study utilized a quasi-experimental design with an experimental group (n = 13) which took part in a 10-week treatment of student-IPA interaction and a control group (n = 15) which did not. Results from the Mann-Whitney U test found that the experimental group was able to make more significant gains in L2 speaking proficiency. However, a significant difference was not found when comparing improvements in L2 listening comprehension. These findings suggest that IPAs may be a useful tool to promote L2 speaking skills and underscore the necessity for additional research on the emerging technology for language learning.
ISSN:1094-3501
1094-3501
DOI:10.64152/10125/44705