Proceedings of the 2nd International Education Conference
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Boosting English Speaking Skills with a Chatbot for Children
Luzia Sauer, Manuela Hürlimann, Katsiaryna Mlynchyk, Gerold Schneider, Mark Cieliebak, Michael Geiss, Jean-Philippe Goldmann
ABSTRACT:
Speaking is a crucial skill in everyday communication and a core focus in foreign language education (Council of Europe, 2020). Preparing children for interactive real-life communication should take centre stage in primary schools and be trained systematically and early. Despite its importance, developing oral skills in EFL classrooms in Switzerland faces many obstacles: limited class time, large diverse classes, outdated teaching methods, and student anxiety. To address these challenges, a team of English teaching methodologists, educators, software engineers, computer linguists and AI specialists in Switzerland designed TalkyWalky, a voicebased chatbot. TalkyWalky is a ‘minimum viable product’ (MVP) that offers spontaneous interactive speaking practice in open conversations and playful focused tasks (TBLT approach). All conversations are adapted to the user’s interests and proficiency level through continuous learner profiling. In focused tasks, learners practise language functions (e.g., inviting, asking questions) and language features as outlined by the Swiss curriculum. In open conversations, they automatize online speech production processes. Errors are preserved and corrected in both learning contexts. Learning is further supported by sidebar add-ons such as an inbuilt dictionary and formulaic language chunks. TalkyWalky uses a system architecture that understands learner speech (STT), detects and classifies learner errors, adapts responses to learners’ L2 proficiency level, and converts the generated responses to spoken machine output (TTS). The models were tested and trained on over 100 hours of authentic error-annotated data. This presentation will showcase TalkyWalky through a live system demonstration and discuss potential uses and modifications for language learning.
keywords: eLearning; AI; innovative teaching; TBLT; ELT Council of Europe (2020). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment—Companion Volume. Council of Europe Publishing