Abstract
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.
Highlights
Technology has undoubtedly opened a new era of human being’s experience in every domain, including students’ learning experience in higher education
The present study aimed to examine the effect of using one of the most popular digital gamebased language learning mobile applications–“Liulishuo”, which is designed for English language learners in China, on the development of English monologic oral production measured using the complexity, accuracy, and fluency triad in a pre- and post-test after 20-weeks’ use of the application
We found that only speech rate was improved significantly between the pre-test and post-test, and this indicated that our learners were able to narrate the same story in English faster after 20 weeks using the “Liulishuo” mobile application
Summary
Technology has undoubtedly opened a new era of human being’s experience in every domain, including students’ learning experience in higher education. With the assistance of technology-enhanced learning, students have more freedom than before to make decisions as to when, where, and how to learn. This study reports the use of a digital game-based mobile application in learning English as a foreign language classroom to develop English language learners’ oral production in one academic semester. The study measures the changes in oral production in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency between the pre-test, which was held at the beginning of the semester, and the post-test, which was held at the end of the semester after 20-week using of the mobile application.
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