Fully Automated Oral Proficiency Assessment

• Project/Area Number: 25K00480
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02100:Foreign language education-related
• Research Institution: Doshisha University
• Principal Investigator: マクガイア マイケルポール 同志社大学, 文学部, 准教授 (30876462)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): ジェニファー ラーソンホール 北九州市立大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (80316827) ; 水本 篤 関西大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (80454768)
• Project Period (FY): 2025-04-01 – 2029-03-31
• Project Status: Granted (Fiscal Year 2025)
• Budget Amount: ¥17,680,000 (Direct Cost: ¥13,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥4,080,000); Fiscal Year 2028: ¥2,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥600,000); Fiscal Year 2027: ¥9,880,000 (Direct Cost: ¥7,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥2,280,000); Fiscal Year 2026: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000); Fiscal Year 2025: ¥3,380,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥780,000)
• Keywords: Speaking assessment / Language testing / Oral Proficiency

Outline of Research at the Start

This project will develop a low-cost, smartphone-based system for testing English speaking ability. Current speaking tests are too expensive for regular classroom use, making it difficult to measure students' progress. Our automated testing platform will allow teachers to easily and frequently assess speaking skills. By making speaking assessment more accessible, this tool will help improve English education in Japan and provide valuable data on the effectiveness of communication-focused teaching methods. The system's framework will also support future development of tests in other languages.