A Teacher-Mediated Smartboard Intervention Foreign Language for Beginners Oral Skills

Abstract

There are serious deficiencies in structured oral practice among exam-focused novice foreign language classes, leading to issues of pronunciation and dialogic proficiency among the learners. This paper, therefore, seeks to explore an application developed specifically for this context by teachers that uses smartboards. The application is based on a closed-loop learning system that allows for curation of syllabus-aligned words, phrases, and sentences, with model pronunciation, learner recordings, automatic assessment of pronunciation accuracy, and downloadable learner analysis. Using a quantitative and qualitative quasi-experimental research design that uses pre-tests and post-tests, this research study explored a non-probability sample of twelve second-year pre-university students studying a foreign language (specifically evaluated using the foreign language at the CEFR A1 beginner level) in Bangalore, India. Quantitative data was collected using application monitoring and oral tests, while qualitative data was gathered via reflections by students and observations by teachers. Paired samples t-test analysis revealed significant differences in all of the oral proficiency variables tested. Pronunciation accuracy increased by 32.6 percentage points (p < .001, d = 2.71), sentence fluency rose by 27.5 percentage points (p < .001, d = 2.41), and dialogue response accuracy increased by 30.7 percentage points (p < .001, d = 2.57). Analysis of the downloading process has shown that the reduction in the number of attempts was accompanied by a decrease in the variation in recordings within each group, which helped prove phonological automatization. Qualitatively, thematic analysis demonstrated the learners’ increased confidence, reduced speaking anxiety, and higher involvement in the activities conducted in class. Thus, the proposed intervention proves the efficiency of using iterative practice and automated feedback with the mediation of teachers guided by analytics in order to develop elementary oral skills. Rather than replacing teachers with technology, the smartboard application can become an instrument for improving teacher performance. This approach could possibly become replicable anywhere in the world.