AI Speech Tools – Use with Self-Selected Students
By Adam Forrester
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
This presentation will consider the use of an AI speech tool by ESL learners in a tertiary institution in Hong Kong over a period of around 2 months. Numerous AI speech assistant tools were piloted before one application was chosen for a mixture of price and pedagogical reasons. Students in the current trial were generally self-selected. Students were given access to the paid for version of the tool and were then left to use the platform by themselves. The application sends notifications to the students about their usage and also encourages them to continue using it. However, notifications can be turned off or ignored. Admins have access to information from the admin platform which gave some information about student usage. Quantitative data was obtained from students during the trial through surveys, and there was also some qualitative data from teachers and students through focus group interviews. While it is not expected that the students would show significant improvements in their spoken language ability given the short length of the trial, it is hoped that students’ confidence and fluency would improve as has been shown in other studies (Dikaprio, & Dahlan Diem, 2024;Fathi, Rahimi, & Derakhshan 2024; Hidayatullah, 2024) and that they would be more motivated to continue practicing English outside of class beyond the end of the semester. The presentation will discuss whether the use of such a tool is a worthwhile investment in terms of budget and time and well as whether it can work in a context where many students lack the motivation to use a self-access language learning tool.
Biography
Adam Forrester is a senior lecturer at the English Language Centre of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His interests include integrating technology into teaching and learning.
