| 摘要: | 英語，已被廣泛認為是與其他國家交流的重要語言之一。亞洲各國開始重視英語教育的養成。然而，亞洲學生卻缺乏在真實情境中使用英語的機會，更遑論能夠從與他人的交流中獲得各種即時的回饋來練習英語口說。為此，我們開發了一個能夠打破時空藩離並能夠在行動裝置上使用的系統(UEnglish)，以促進學生在真實情境之中進行英語口說練習。UEnglish設計及開發了自動語音辨識、雲端翻譯服務、文字轉語音等先進的功能。根據自動語音辨識的結果，提供學生及時的分數反饋與修正，以激勵學生能夠進行更多的英語口語練習。此外，雲端翻譯英語以及將英語文字轉語音的功能讓英語練習變得更加簡單，也藉此鼓勵學生能夠透過探索真實情境的同時主動說更多的英語。透過UEnglish的輔助，本研究的主要目的為探討學生在真實情境中使用UEnglish學習英語口說時，其學習行為及對學習成效的影響。總共有兩班56名學生參與本次研究，其中包括28名使用UEnglish做為學習輔助的實驗組以及28名以傳統紙本教材教學方式進行英語學習的控制組。
根據研究結果顯示，在UEnglish的輔助之下，使用UEnglish的實驗組學生在英語口說學習成就無論質或量的表現，尤其是在描述漫畫圖片以及形容真實情境圖片題的部分，顯著優於以紙本當作學習材料的控制組學生。由此可見，藉由UEnglish的幫助，學生不僅可以使用更多的字彙以及更複雜的句子來表達他們的所見所聞，當遇到類似的真實情境時，更能夠將所學運用於其中。除此之外，透過訪談內容顯示，雲端翻譯、自動語音辨識以及即時反饋的功能皆能激發學生主動在真實情境之中進行英語口說的自我修正學習。因此，藉由生活情境的建構學習外語，能夠提供學習者在日常生活中簡單且有效的學習英語機會。
;English is widely regarded as one of the most important languages to be used. Asian countries pay much attention to English education; however, Asian students lack sufficient opportunities to speak English in authentic contexts. It is not easy for them to receive any instant feedback to improve their English speaking skills at school. Therefore, in this study, we proposed one mobile app called Ubiquitous English (UEnglish) to facilitate students’ English speaking learning anytime and anywhere in authentic contexts. UEnglish was designed and developed to employ advanced functions of automatic speech recognition, cloud machine translation, and text-to-speech engine. Based on the results of automatic speech recognition, instant scoring feedback, and correction were provided to motivate students to practice English speaking more. Furthermore, cloud machine translation to English and English text-to-speech engine can make English practices much easier, thereby motivating students to do more English speaking by exploring authentic contexts. With the support of UEnglish, the main purpose of this study is to investigate students’ learning behaviors and the influences on the learning achievement of English speaking in authentic contexts. A total of fifty-six fifth-grade students participated in this study, including twenty-eight students in the experimental group with the assistance of UEnglish in authentic contexts and other twenty-eight students in the control group with a traditional paper-based English teaching method.
The results indicated that the experimental group who spoke English with UEnglish in authentic contexts outperformed the control group who learned English speaking only with paper-based teaching materials. Especially, the experimental group had significant differences in their quality and quantity of English speaking in the dimensions of describing comic pictures and describing authentic pictures of the post-test. With the aid of UEnglish, students could not only use more words and complex sentences to express their thoughts in English but also easily apply what they learned when they encountered similar authentic contexts. Besides, from the interview conducted in open-ended questions, we found that the function of could translation service, speech recognition, and instant feedback motivated students to do self-regulated learning effectively in authentic contexts. Therefore, whenever learners do their English language acquisition in authentic contexts, our proposed system can provide opportunities for learners to practice English easily and effectively in their daily life. |
