On the Adequacy of Elsa Speak in Formal Education: A Survey of Teacher-Users

Abstract

There are hundreds of education-related studies attesting to the efficacy of “Elsa Speak” AI platform for learning English pronunciation. While the literature often reveals itself in a preoccupation with formal education, it is limited to examining Elsa’s effects on learners, hardly establishing any relation between this app and organised teaching. This paper presents the results of an investigation into Elsa’s impact on Japanese junior high school teachers of English who integrated it into their classroom. Although no teacher interviewed denied Elsa’s learning benefits, they essentially consider its unrestricted use disruptive during class. Most teachers also stated that Elsa is neither necessary nor sufficient a repetition or correction method, and that aligning students to a single English pronunciation is not an educational goal they pursue. The study concludes that, unless pronunciation is a criterion for grading, and Elsa can support objective student evaluation, however helpful a learning tool, its adequacy in schools is yet to be demonstrated