The Game Embedded CALL System to Facilitate English Vocabulary Acquisition and Pronunciation

Autor/inn/en	Young, Shelley Shwu-Ching; Wang, Yi-Hsuan
Titel	The Game Embedded CALL System to Facilitate English Vocabulary Acquisition and Pronunciation
Quelle	In: Educational Technology & Society, 17 (2014) 3, S.239-251 (13 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1436-4522
Schlagwörter	Computer Assisted Instruction; Second Language Learning; Pronunciation; Educational Technology; Educational Games; Feedback (Response); Drills (Practice); English (Second Language); Experimental Groups; Control Groups; Comparative Analysis; Computer Uses in Education; Grade 4; Elementary School Students; Foreign Countries; Pretests Posttests; Statistical Analysis; Scores; Instructional Effectiveness; Vocabulary Development; Questionnaires; Interaction; Computational Linguistics; Qualitative Research; Interviews; Taiwan + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Computer based training; Computerunterstützter Unterricht; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Aussprache; Unterrichtsmedien; Educational game; Lernspiel; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Computernutzung; School year 04; 4. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 04; Ausland; Statistische Analyse; Unterrichtserfolg; Wortschatzarbeit; Fragebogen; Interaktion; Linguistics; Computerlinguistik; Qualitative Forschung; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik
Abstract	The aim of this study is to make a new attempt to explore the potential of integrating game strategies with automatic speech recognition technologies to provide learners with individual opportunities for English pronunciation learning. The study developed the Game Embedded CALL (GeCALL) system with two activities for on-line speaking practice. For the drill practice, learners get immediate scores with evaluation feedback on their utterances; in the game-based practice, they have to correctly choose and pronounce the English vocabulary from the candidate answers to pass the four-level barriers. To enable the study to confirm the factors that facilitate students' English learning, a total of 52 learners from Taiwan participated in this experiment, divided into an experimental group (E.G.) and a control group (C.G.). The learners in the E.G learned English with both the drill and game-based practice, while the students in the C.G. learned only with the drill practice. The empirical evaluation reveals that those who learned with both drill and game-based activities performed better in terms of their English pronunciation than the learners who only participated in the drill practice, but the learners in the C.G. performed better in the delayed vocabulary retention test. Besides, the study indicates that the learners, especially the low-achievement ones, showed great involvement and were active in practicing speaking in the game-based scenario. The findings are in accordance with the previous research affirming that gameplay is the driving force that promotes learners' educative engagement, and that learners of different levels of learning achievement are active in learning together while practicing their oral speaking in the stress-free environment. In sum, the GeCALL system is an educative aid that could reduce learners' language speaking anxiety and to provide flexible chances for individual students to do self-speaking practice within the given limited teaching time. The findings of this study support the value of applying game strategies with ASR techniques for language learning purposes. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	International Forum of Educational Technology & Society. Athabasca University, School of Computing & Information Systems, 1 University Drive, Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3, Canada. Tel: 780-675-6812; Fax: 780-675-6973; Web site: http://www.ifets.info
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10