Revolutionising Language Education: Integrating AI Technology into Corpus-aided English Speaking Training

Employing AI technology to empower language learning has been an emerging trend since the launch of various generative AI robots. Promising results can be found in developing learners’ reading and writing performance, but not in speaking performance yet. Dr Rebecca Chen Hsueh Chu (LML) has taken the initiative to integrate corpus and AI technology for teaching and learning English speaking in academic context with the support from the Faculty’s Knowledge Transfer Fund. The project, entitled ‘Revolutionising Language Education: Integrating AI technology into corpus-aided English speaking training’, developed a corpus and AI-aided English speaking learning framework to complement the lack of feedback when learning with corpus with responses from AI robots, and to allow users to judge AI’s feedback from corpus data. The learning framework was introduced to frontline teachers and students.

A five-week online training course was conducted from September to October in 2023, in collaboration with the Department of Applied English of National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, Taiwan. Forty students attended the training course with positive feedback provided. In addition to the training course, we also received invitations from other institutions including the School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen; and the School of Foreign Language, Northwest Minzu University to deliver online workshops on this topic in December 2023. Over 60 researchers, teachers and students from English language related disciplines attended the workshops and provided encouraging feedback. Dr Chen and her research team will continue to explore possibilities of integrating AI technologies into existing learning resources to facilitate teaching and learning of English speaking.

 

 

Students from National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism attended the online training course

 

 

Giving talk with invitation from the School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen

 

 

Delivering workshop with invitation from the School of Foreign Language, Northwest Minzu University

 

 

Delivering workshop with invitation from the School of Foreign Language, Northwest Minzu University