Self-access learning of English intonation with speech software: examining learners’ perceptions with a focus on their concerns and negative comments

Abstract

Abstract Language laboratories exist in many language centres across the globe. Situated in the popularity of self-access and computer-assisted language learning in the present era, the study investigated tertiary-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ general and, particularly, negative views of speech analysis software. Two hundred and eighty intermediate-level (CEFR B1 and B2 levels) EFL participants completed trial sessions with some free speech software in which they listened to and recorded utterances to practise English intonation at a language laboratory in Hong Kong. Each participant was observed during the session, completed a questionnaire, and attended a brief post-questionnaire interview after the session. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The results showed that learning with this kind of software was perceived generally positively in relation to language enhancement and self-access learning. However, from the qualitative data collected about their negative views and concerns, three themes emerged: absence of a teacher, an interaction-less environment, and the little value of graphic outputs. This article concludes with a discussion of these findings and implications for language educators and researchers in self-access and computer-assisted language learning, which are in vogue globally nowadays. Suggestions for addressing learners’ negative views and comments, which have not received much attention among stakeholders, are also provided.