School of Foreign Languages, Shaanxi Xueqian Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
Office of Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Arts, Education and Law), Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
PLoS One. 2021 Jan 5;16(1):e0232671. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232671. eCollection 2021.
This study examined the effect of using a digital game-based language learning mobile application "Liulishuo" (speaking English fluently) to develop complexity, accuracy, and fluency of English monologic oral production among 30 English language learners in China. Monologic oral production was measured using the same narrative picture description task in pre- and post-tests. The learners followed the "Imitation of English Monologues" game 30 minutes each time, twice a week, for 20 weeks. The oral production was measured using six indices: the mean words per T-unit and lexical density (i.e., complexity), the mean repairs and errors per 100 words (i.e., accuracy), speech rate and the mean length of pauses (i.e., fluency). The paired sample t-tests showed that the participants produced more complex monologic speech, had significantly fewer errors, and increased speech rate, but the mean repairs and mean length of pauses remained unchanged. The unchanged repairs and pauses could be possibly due to the non-proceduralized linguistic knowledge in oral production, which may require a more extended period of treatment. Our study showed positive effects of using a digital game-based language learning mobile application on the improvement of complexity, accuracy, and fluency of English language learners in China' monologic oral production with varying effects.
本研究考察了使用基于数字游戏的语言学习移动应用程序“流利说”（说英语流利）对中国 30 名英语学习者的英语独白口语产出的复杂性、准确性和流畅性的影响。在前后测中，使用相同的叙事图片描述任务来衡量独白口语产出。学习者每次跟随“模仿英语独白”游戏 30 分钟，每周两次，共 20 周。口语产出使用六个指标进行衡量：平均每个 T 单位的单词数和词汇密度（即复杂性）、每 100 个单词的平均修正和错误数（即准确性）、语速和平均停顿时间（即流畅性）。配对样本 t 检验显示，参与者产生了更复杂的独白言语，错误明显减少，语速提高，但平均修正和平均停顿时间保持不变。不变的修正和停顿可能是由于口语产出中未程序化的语言知识所致，这可能需要更长的治疗时间。我们的研究表明，使用基于数字游戏的语言学习移动应用程序对提高中国英语学习者的复杂性、准确性和流畅性具有积极影响，但效果不同。
