Abstract

Often, second/foreign (L2) language learners receive little opportunity to interact orally in the target language. Interactive, conversation-based spoken dialog systems (SDSs) that use automated speech recognition and natural language processing have the potential to address this need by engaging learners in meaningful, goal-oriented speaking practice. However, these technology-based learning tools are often developed without input from teaching professionals. As part of a larger development effort, this study examined English as a second language (ESL) teachers’ perceptions regarding SDS-based speaking tasks, addressing the following research questions: (a) What do teachers think about the SDS-based tasks? (b) How would they use them in the context of their English instruction? Overall, 16 ESL instructors in an intensive English program in the United States were asked to interact with four SDS-based speaking tasks designed to elicit specific linguistic phenomena (e.g. making requests; wh-questions). The teachers completed a survey after each task to gauge their user experience, level of engagement, and perceptions of the usefulness of the tasks for their teaching contexts. A subgroup of instructors (n = 7) also participated in audio-recorded focus group meetings. Descriptive statistics were calculated for each survey item and the open-ended responses from the surveys and focus groups were analyzed qualitatively for major themes. The findings show that teachers had positive views of the SDS tasks’ potential for speaking practice and diagnostic purposes, primarily in a flipped classroom model. Their perceptions seemed to be related to their own user experience and, in particular, to the perceived authenticity of a given task.

摘要

通常，第二语言/外语 (L2) 语言学习者很少有机会以目标语言进行口头交流。使用自动语音识别和自然语言处理的交互式、基于对话的口语对话系统 (SDS) 有可能通过让学习者参与有意义的、面向目标的口语练习来满足这一需求。然而，这些基于技术的学习工具通常是在没有教学专业人员输入的情况下开发的。作为更大发展努力的一部分，本研究考察了英语作为第二语言 (ESL) 教师对基于 SDS 的口语任务的看法，解决了以下研究问题：(a) 教师如何看待基于 SDS 的任务？(b) 他们将如何在英语教学中使用它们？全面的，在美国的一个强化英语课程中，16 名 ESL 讲师被要求与四项基于 SDS 的口语任务进行互动，这些任务旨在引发特定的语言现象（例如提出请求；wh 问题）。教师在每项任务后完成一项调查，以评估他们的用户体验、参与程度以及对任务对其教学环境有用性的看法。一组教师（n  = 7) 还参加了有录音的焦点小组会议。为每个调查项目计算了描述性统计数据，并对调查和焦点小组的开放式回答进行了定性分析，以了解主要主题。研究结果表明，教师对 SDS 任务在口语练习和诊断目的方面的潜力持积极态度，主要是在翻转课堂模式中。他们的看法似乎与他们自己的用户体验有关，特别是与给定任务的感知真实性有关。