From Silent Classrooms to Confident Speakers: AI’s Role in Transforming Language Learning

Overview

Speaking remains one of the most challenging skills to teach and assess in language learning, especially in Chinese, where tones, intonation, and fluency pose significant hurdles. This challenge intensifies when preparing students for high-stakes oral exams like the HSKK. Many teachers struggle to provide personalized speaking practice or track progress in a structured way.

In this presentation, the speaker will share insights from their work developing AI-powered speaking tools for Chinese learners. The speaker's team has created pronunciation models specifically trained on intonation patterns, tone accuracy, and fluency scoring, aligned with HSKK standards. By leveraging thousands of learner samples and expert evaluations, the speaker's team has trained its system to provide real-time, formative feedback that’s not only accurate but also motivating for students. The speaker will also showcase classroom tools that allow teachers to quickly create oral assignments, automatically assess pronunciation, and receive clear reports on student performance — all without the need to manually grade recordings.

These tools are used in both in-person and remote learning settings, empowering teachers to scale oral practice and help each learner become a confident speaker.