Web-based mini-games for language learning that support spoken interaction

Abstract

The European ‘Lifelong Learning Programme’ (LLP) project ‘Games Online for Basic Language learning’ (GOBL) aimed to provide youths and adults wishing to improve their basic language skills access to materials for the development of communicative proficiency in Dutch, French, and English through web-based mini-games. These mini-games were tested in four countries: The Netherlands (Dutch), Belgium (French), United Kingdom and South-Africa (English). Four types of mini-games were developed, and in two of them users can use ‘automatic speech recognition’ (ASR) to support spoken interaction. In the current paper we will focus on the English versions of these two games that were tested in the United Kingdom and South-Africa. The analyses that are presented in this paper were conducted to determine what users’ perceptions are about mini-games with and without speech input and ASR and which aspects of the speech-enhanced games are strongly related to each other.