The Impact Of Computer-Assisted Speaking Practice On Language Acquisitio

This study quantitatively analyzed the impacts of computer-assisted speaking practices and corrective feedback during autonomous learning on input and speaking feature changes.Studies on the potentials of computer-assisted speaking practices mostly used qualitative data.Although teachers have often provided support like corrective feedback and encouragement during autonomous learning,previous studies on the effectiveness of such support often relied on qualitative data.First-and second-year Japanese language majors were assigned to different groups based on their access to computer speaking practice and corrective feedback.Their performance in the multiple-choice tests and speaking features quantified from recorded voices were tracked for 13 months.Their improvement differences over the experiment period were tested using the difference-in-difference estimation.The questionnaire revealed no evidence that continuous speaking practice impacted learners' autonomous learning strategies over time.The quantitative examination of input and speaking features revealed that computer-assisted speaking practice during autonomous learning promotes input and impacts output.The results suggest that continuous speaking practice and measurement of speaking features during autonomous learning can meet the needs of learners who want to produce utterances matching their cognitive level and test their language ability.The results also suggest that the system can promote input and impact speaking growth.A quantitative examination of input and speaking features revealed that computer-assisted speaking practice during autonomous learning,tailored to learners' cognitive level rather than their language acquisition level,facilitates input and significantly impacts output.During the experiment,learners were observed looking up words' meaning and grammatical use as they listened to narration,aided by illustrations and pictures,while independently studying words and looking them up in a dictionary to express themselves in Japanese.The study results show that the speaking practice problems handled in autonomous learning must not necessarily be "basic level" problems for learners in the basic stage of language acquisition.They can potentially handle speaking practice problems using their thinking skills and take one step beyond their current stage of linguistic competence.Contrastingly,the corrective feedback for speaking during autonomous learning does not positively impact input or output.This may be because the negative effect of the learners'increased anxiety about the corrective feedback outweighs the positive effect of receiving direct negative evidence as learning information.As autonomous learners,corrective feedback should be customized for learning information.Before getting corrective feedback,learners must be supported by changing their mindset from teacher-determined learning to selfdetermined learning.Current Japanese language instruction in China generally delays output that stimulates curiosity and exercises thinking skills until the upper grades,while output at the basic level is limited to simple communication.In order to break this status quo in the classroom and incorporate discussions that help improve thinking skills at the earliest possible stage,it is proposed that learners try on computer-assisted speaking practice that is consistent with their cognitive level during independent study.In this process,teachers should first boost learners'confidence and motivation by encouraging them to actively express themselves in the target language,rather than just providing corrective feedback.