This paper introduces "FineTune," a mobile application currently in development that features a gamified version of High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT). The aims of this paper are twofold: (1) to outline the theoretical motivation for the app's features, which includes a discussion of HVPT, gamification, and Self-Determination…

This mixed-methods one-shot study examines L2 writers' perceptions of using Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) to write using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), based on three criteria: usefulness, ease of use, and intention to use. After receiving training on Google voice typing in Google Docs, 17 English as a Second Language (ESL) students…

This article, based on Khademi's (2021) Master's thesis, examines the use of Google Translate (GT) and its speech capabilities, Text-to-Speech Synthesis (TTS) and Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), in helping L2 learners acquire the pronunciation of English past -ed allomorphy (/t/, /d/, /id/) in a semi-autonomous context, considering three…

This study examines the L2 pronunciation feedback provided by the Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) functionality in Google Translate (GT). We focus on three Quebec Francophone (QF) errors in English: th-substitution, h-deletion, and h-epenthesis. Four hundred and eighty male and female QF recordings of sentences with correctly and incorrectly…

This study reports on the development of "Parlure Games" and explores its pedagogical affordances. "Parlure Games" is a multi-dialectal listening and decolonial conversation tool created to address the absence of variable speech (including speech markers associated with native speaker status, regional dialect, age, and race)…

This pilot study examines users' perceptions of Bande à Part, a music application designed for learners of French. The technology acceptance model (TAM) was adopted to investigate users' perceptions of the app's usability and potential for second language (L2) learning. The model's two constructs, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use,…

[For the complete volume, "CALL and Professionalisation: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2021 (29th, Online, August 26-27, 2021)," see ED616972.]This study investigated whether a translation tool (Microsoft Translator -- MT) and its built-in speech features (Text-To-Speech synthesis -- TTS -- and speech recognition) can promote learners'…

This study examined the acquisition of L2 English vocabulary with clickers, focusing on the role of individual differences. Following a pretest-posttest design, we measured perception and performance among 61 English learners who took part in a vocabulary acquisition treatment, in which they answered Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) via clickers…

The study explored the pedagogical use of Text-To-Speech (TTS) synthesizers by comparing two groups of students learning the pronunciations associated with Regular Past Tense (RPT) marking in English (e.g. talk[t], clean[d], want[id]). While one group received TTS-based instruction, the other was taught RPT with teacher assistance. Our findings…

This study investigates an Intelligent Personal Assistant's (IPA) ability to assist English as a Second Language (ESL) learners in developing their phonological awareness, perception, and production of the allomorphy in regular past tense marking in English (e.g. talk[t], play[d] and add[?d]). The study addresses the following questions: Can the…

This study examined whether the pedagogical use of Spaceteam ESL (English as a Second Language), a digital "shouting" game, could contribute to the development of Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) among 71 English students in secondary schools in Mombasa, Kenya. Following a mixed-methods approach for data collection and analysis, we pre- and…

Language repertoires have been traditionally construed as a set of chronologically determined compartments (first language, second language, etc.), a scheme which upholds several validity and ethical issues when operationalized in research and education (Ortega, 2019). Complex dynamic systems theory (also complexity theory, here CDST) has been…

This study examined the use of a popular Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Google Voice Typing (GVT), to automatically assess English as second language pronunciation. It aimed to answer the following question: What is the relationship between GVT-rated scores and human-rated scores? To answer this question, we compared audio recordings of 56…

Text-To-Speech (TTS) synthesizers have piqued the interest of researchers for their potential to enhance the L2 acquisition of writing (Kirstein, 2006), vocabulary and reading (Proctor, Dalton, & Grisham, 2007) and pronunciation (Cardoso, Collins, & White, 2012; Soler-Urzua, 2011). Despite their proven effectiveness, there is a need for…

We examine the impact of the pedagogical use of mobile TTS on the L2 acquisition of French liaison, a process by which a word-final consonant is pronounced at the beginning of the following word if the latter is vowel-initial (e.g. peti/t.a/mi = > peti[ta]mi "boyfriend"). The study compares three groups of L2 French students learning…