Speaking English with Google Assistant may make teens more willing to talk

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   112 eighth graders aged 15 and 16 from one junior high school in Taiwan took part: 58 boys and 54 girls.

2. 02

   What they did

   Over two weeks, students did eight speaking activities with the Google Assistant app during normal English lessons. They began in groups, then worked in pairs, then alone. In the last two activities, they chose a partner.

3. 03

   What happened

   Students said they were more willing to speak English during the activities than in class, and less anxious. The paper's numbers for class time do not fully agree, and there was no other group to compare with.

What the study found

1. No comparisonMotivation

   Students said they were more willing to speak English during the activities than in normal class.

   Study of one group of 112 eighth graders learning English in Taiwan · no comparison group · they rated themselves · ⚠ summary claims more than the results show; numbers unreliable

2. No comparisonOther outcomes

   Students said speaking English in the activities made them less anxious than in class.

   Study of one group of 112 eighth graders learning English in Taiwan · no comparison group · they rated themselves · ⚠ summary claims more than the results show; numbers unreliable

Source