Abstract
Recent years have witnessed the growing presence of artificial intelligence in language learning apps. Against this backdrop, this technology review provides an overview of the affordances of Speeko and discusses its potential in developing English-as-a-foreign-language students’ public speaking skills.
Introduction
As an important method to improve students’ oral performance, public speaking is widely employed by English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers worldwide (Richards and Renandya, 2002). With the rise of digital technologies, an array of tools such as social media platforms (Dugartsyrenova and Sardegna, 2017), educational videos (Seau and Azman, 2020) and virtual reality (Xie et al., 2021) have been added to EFL teachers’ toolkit for teaching public speaking. Among these resources, one recent addition is the artificial intelligence-supported language learning app, Speeko (2022).
Overview
Officially launched in 2018 in Chicago, Speeko is a training app that is committed to helping people become confident, clear and empathetic in public speaking (Speeko, 2022). The tool is currently available on devices with compatible macOS or iOS. It is a free downloaded app but requires a subscription to unlock advanced features. The user interface of Speeko, as is shown in Figure 1, consists of three main components: Coaching, Record and Progress. The Coaching module hosts detailed training practices and some daily activities (Figure 1, Panel A); the Record module allows learners to practise in given simulated situations and get feedback (Figure 1, Panel B); and the Progress module provides informative learning analytics (Figure 1, Panel C). Such a visual and intuitive arrangement helps to keep learners focused on relevant tasks and avoid unnecessary explanations.
User interface of Speeko.
Potential Benefits
Based on our review of Speeko's functionality, we found that the application's pedagogical benefits for developing EFL students’ public speaking skills lie in the following three aspects: (a) provision of immediate, personalised feedback; (b) reduction of students’ speech anxiety; and (c) structured learning experiences.
Firstly, Speeko can offer instant, custom-tailored feedback based on users’ performance. As is discussed in prior EFL research, responsive and personalised feedback can motivate learners to put greater efforts into learning, and thus lead to improved learning performance (Lim et al., 2021; Van der Schaaf et al., 2017). When learners create voice recordings in the app, Speeko can quickly review their oral performance with the assistance of automated speech recognition technology and offer in-depth feedback against the following metrics: pace, eloquence, pausing, intonation, articulation and word choice (Figure 2).
Instant feedback from Speeko.
Speakers can also choose to view the transcripts of their own recordings with fine-grained instructions highlighting places that require speakers’ further attention in future practice.
Another major strength of Speeko is its potential to lower speech anxiety, which is commonly seen as a barrier in improving EFL learners’ oral performance (Sun and Teng, 2021). In our opinion, with the non-threatening presentation environment afforded by Speeko, such speech anxiety can be significantly reduced. Given that what the speakers face is a virtual coach, there would be no fear of failure and no embarrassment about making mistakes during the practice. Moreover, learners are allowed more control over their practice, so their confidence in public speaking can be built up step by step. In addition, with a philatelic reward mechanism, Speeko would award users a digital badge for each completed task, which gives them a sense of satisfaction and keeps them engaged in the training.
Last but not least, the merit of Speeko is its provision of well-organised learning resources ranging from planning a speech to delivering one, which is fundamental for developing students’ public speaking capacity (Richards, 2005; Sun, 2021). For example, when users need to speak at a special occasion such as a group meeting, Speeko can offer them a helpful and organised draft template with given sentences, frameworks and suggested ideas (Figure 3). Users can then rehearse the speech within the application and be well prepared for the speech. Besides, there are also many research-informed tips on how to overcome fear and nervousness associated with public speaking.
Notecard generated by Speeko.
Conclusion
Despite its affordances, Speeko is by no means the perfect solution and does have its own deficiencies. First and foremost, the lack of real audiences, though being stress-free, may hinder the further development of advanced learners. Teachers can couple the app with other techniques such as Toastmasters, an approach to organise on-site public speaking training activities that offers participants chances to practise in front of their peers (Yu-Chih, 2008). Further, given the inaccuracy of the automated speech recognition, the transcript-based feedback sometimes may not be as accurate as expected. Notwithstanding its disadvantages, Speeko is a convenient tool for improving students’ public speaking skills through its provision of personalised feedback, a stress-free practice environment, and structured learning resources.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Academic Degrees & Graduate Education Reform Project of Henan Province (grant number 2021SJGLX201Y).
