2015 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Cross-institutional study on the effects of an intelligent embedded training system on language learning in a mobile environment.
| Project/Area Number |
15K02714
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| Research Institution | Kanazawa University |
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Principal Investigator |
Gary Ross 金沢大学, 薬学系, 准教授 (10708142)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
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| Keywords | mobile / autonomy / speech / training |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The purpose of this project is to investigate the effects of an intelligent embedded training system on student autonomy for university learners of English. In FY2015, the initial plan was to set up a basic online learning system for students and test the robustness of the system as well as getting feedback from students.
The initial plan was to focus on the understanding of vocabulary, as vocabulary study and improvement is relatively straightforward to measure. However, improvements to speech synthesis and speech recognition in modern browsers meant that the project was expanded to include a speaking component.
During the first semester, the system was set up to technically accommodate speaking components and was tested on a small group of students. It was discovered that although the system worked well, not all browsers support the technology especially in the mobile space. As well as putting in the practice sentences, a clear interface that worked on different size screen was developed.
In the second semester, the system was tested on a class of 80 students. The number of sentences and practices was expanded. A record was made of technical difficulties and support on different types of devices based on student feedback. The technical details of the set up, and the results were presented in INTED2016, and published in the conference proceedings.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
Research has on the whole progressed smoothly. As well as completion of setting up a working system, the system was expanded to include a speaking component. Speaking and listening has been a major concern for students of English in Japanese, and thus the development of an autonomous speaking system to improve speech is a significant step forward. The goal of the study is study the effects of a help system on autonomy, and the addition of speech, a key area of language learning, mean that the long term implications of the study will be more significant.
The system was also tested on a large class and although there were minor technical issues, such as microphones, and signing up, the system proved robust and easy to use. The initial plan was the creation of a control group using data from FY2015. However, in order to accommodate the new speaking component a control group will be created in 2016, but with more data due to the larger number of speaking possibilities when compared with vocabulary.
Input of data was initially planned to use assistants but high enough level assistants couldn’t be found for the harder speaking sentences and thus the lead researcher developed these alone.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The addition of a speaking component will mean small changes to the the timetable of collecting usage data and the entry of data into the system for practice. In FY2016, more speaking practices will be entered, as well as collection of a control data set. Also, as speaking has more varied support in the mobile space, as per the original proposal more comparisons will be made between mobile use and desktop use and its effect on autonomy.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The initial research plan has been expanded to contain a speaking component. As speaking has more complications of data entry than simple grammar and vocabulary exercises, FY2015 did not need data entry by an assistant. This instead was carried out by the lead researcher.
Thus personnel expenditure and equipment expenditure was lower in FY2015, but that expense has transferred to FY2016.
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| Expenditure Plan for Carryover Budget |
The basic usage plan is unchanged from the initial plan. There will however be more data entered due to the expanded goal of including a speaking component.
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