第一章“双减”背景下AI 口语教练在小学英语口语中的应用研究

“双减”背景下AI口语教练在小学英语口语中的应用研究ChapterOneRelatedSeriesChapterOnemainlyexplainsthenewpossibilitiesbroughtbyAIandthe“DoubleReduction”policytotheteachingofspokenEnglishinprimaryschools.Atthebeginning,let’sclarifythecoreconceptsofthisstudy,thatis,the“DoubleReduction”policy,AI-speakingcoachesandoralEnglishteaching,sothattheboundariesoftheresearchwillbeclearer.Then,thischaptersortsoutthevalueofthisworkatthetheoreticalandpracticallevels,whichpavesthewayforthediscussionofthefollowingchapters.1.1ResearchBackgroundSmartphones,socialmediaandartificialintelligence(AI)aredevelopingrapidly.Foreducationpractitioners,thisrhythmbringsbothgreatchallengesandnewopportunities:theycanusethesetoolstobuildmoreadvancedlearningmedia.Inthepastfewdecades,AIhasbeenwidelyusedinthedevelopmentofvariousapplications,anditsproductshavepenetratedintoalmosteverycornerofdailylife.REF_Ref221293996\r\h[1]Thismomentumhasnotstoppeduntilnow.Large-scalenext-generationAImodelsrepresentedbyChatGPT,SoraandDeepSeekhaveappearedoneafteranother,drivinganewroundofAIboomandquicklyspreadingaroundtheworld.Zhang(2025)pointedoutthatgenerativeAIhasgreatapplicationpotentialinthefieldofeducationbecauseofitsstronglanguageunderstandingandpersonalizedfeedbackability.REF_Ref228359392\r\h[2]Someacademicinsiderscan’thelpsighingthatglobaleducationisnowundergoinganunprecedentedlarge-scalesocialpracticetrial.REF_Ref6756\r\h[3]Moderntechnologycontinuestoprogress,andtheglobaldemandforpracticalEnglishcommunicationabilityisalsorisingsynchronously.Thesetwotrendsaremutuallydriven.AccordingtothedataofDuolingo’s2024globalreportonlanguagelearningtrends,thepopularityofEnglishisstillatthetop,covering135economiesincludingChina,andthenumberoflearnershasincreasedbymorethan10%comparedwiththepreviousyear.REF_Ref3109\r\h[4]Thereisahighdegreeofconsensusintheacademiccommunityonthis.LinguistMichaelMcCarthybelieves:“SpokenEnglish,astheprimaryformofeverydaycommunication,isirreplaceable.”REF_Ref3216\r\h[5]DavidCrystalpointedout:“Spokenlanguageisattheheartofalllanguageuse;toneglectresearchintospokenlanguageistoneglecttheveryessenceoflanguage.”REF_Ref3259\r\h[6]EnglisheducationexpertPennyUralsoadvocates:“Oraltrainingshouldrunthroughoutlanguageteaching;Real-timeverbalinteractionintheclassroomcanslowlyenhancestudents’willingnesstocommunicateconfidently,andatthesametime,solidifytheirbaseforreading,writingandotherkeylanguagecompetencies.”REF_Ref228178970\r\h[7]ThecomprehensiveimplementationofChina’s“DoubleReduction”policyhasbroughtadifferentopportunitytothetransformationoforalEnglishteachinginprimaryschools,andalsopushedschoolstoconstantlyadjustthecurriculumandmakefulluseofexistingresources.REF_Ref221301571\r\h[8]Butifyoureallywalkintotheclassroomandobserve,youwillfindthatthegapbetweentheidealsettingandtheactualteachingisquiteobvious.Becauseteachinghasbeenfocusedonwrittenexamsforalongtime,exercisessuchasmechanicalcopyingstillaccountforaconsiderableproportioninclassroomactivities.Thisresultsinthefrequentmarginalizationofspeakingtasks.Especiallyinlarge-classteachingscenarios,itisdifficultforteacherstoprovidetimelyandaccuratepronunciationcorrectionforeachstudent.Classhoursarelimited,andstudentshavefewindividualexpressionopportunities.Astimegoeson,thechildren’swillingnesstospeakisslowlywornaway.Thelackoftargetedguidanceultimatelyleadstotheaccumulationofpronunciationdifficulties.Pupilsthenfallintotheinescapabledilemmaof“silentEnglish”.REF_Ref221301586\r\h[9]Tosolvethesepracticaldifficulties,itisurgenttobuildadiversifiedmonitoringsystem.Thissystemshouldtakeinprocess-orientedevaluationandmulti-dimensionalfeedback,andreallyfillinthegapbetween“textualstandards”and“classroompractice”inprimaryschoolEnglishteaching.REF_Ref228360306\r\h[10]1.2DefinitionofRelatedImportantConceptsFirstly,the“DoubleReduction”policyreferstothe‘OpinionsonFurtherReducingtheBurdenofHomeworkandOff-campusTutoringforStudentsinCompulsoryEducation’,issuedinJuly2021bytheGeneralOfficeoftheCentralCommitteeoftheCommunistPartyofChinaandtheGeneralOfficeoftheStateCouncil,andcommonlyabbreviatedas“DoubleReduction”.The“DoubleReduction”policyissuesacall.Educationqualitymustrisesignificantly.Teachingqualitymustrisesignificantly.Pupilsmustlearnsufficientlyatschool.Theymustlearneffectivelyatschool.Thepolicymakesanexplicitemphasis.Classroomteachingqualityneedsaboost.Schoolsmustimproveteachingmanagementprocedures.Teachingmethodsneedoptimization.Thispartofteachingadministrationshouldbegrasped.Theefficiencyofstudents’studyinschoolshouldbeeffectivelyimproved,anditisstipulatedthatnoneofthecontenttobetaughtmustbemissing,soastoensurethatstudentsmeetthenationalacademicqualitystandards.Theclassscheduleshouldnotbeincreasedordecreasedatwill,thedifficultyshouldnotbeincreasedarbitrarily,andtheteachingprogressshouldnotbedeliberatelyaccelerated.Thepressureonstudentsintheexaminationshouldbegraduallyreduced,andtheevaluationmethodshouldalsobechangedinamorereasonabledirection.Itisforbiddentoendthenewcourseearlyinordertopreparefortheexam.Standardizedexaminationsorganizedinviolationofregulationsareresolutelynottobedone,andtheexaminationquestionsmustbecontrolledwithinthescopeofthecurriculumstandards.Thepracticeofqueueingandlabellingstudentsaccordingtotheexamresultsshouldnotbeallowed;theresultsshouldbepresentedusingagradingsystem,andthetendencyofonlylookingatscoresandtakingscoresastheonlystandardmustbereversedwithdetermination.REF_Ref221301778\r\h[11]Secondly,theword“AI”wasofficiallynamedattheDartmouthConferenceintheUnitedStatesin1956.REF_Ref220187823\r\h[12]Today,AIhasspreadtoalotoffieldssuchasmedicalcare,education,finance,industryandtransportation.ThisstudyfocussesonwhatroleAIcanplayineducation.“AISpeakingCoach”isaveryspecificexampleofhowAIcanbeusedinlanguageeducation.Itreferstoakindofapplicationorsystem.Tobuildthiskindoforalcoach,theunderlyingtechnologyreliesonlargeeducationallanguagemodels,whichintegrateintelligentspeechrecognition,naturallanguageprocessingandadaptivelearningalgorithmsintoonetoformasystemthatcanunderstandspeech,processlanguage,andadjustaccordingtothelearner’ssituation.Themaingoalofthissetofthingsisnaturallytopracticestudents’oralskills.Thepathofrealizationistosimulaterealdialogueandgivefeedbackimmediately.Studentspracticeoralcommunicationthroughthesesimulateddialogues,andtheyaremorewillingtoparticipateinthelearningprocessastheypractice.Inthisstudy,“AISpeakingCoach”doesnotrefertoaspecificApp,butalsoageneraltermfordigitaltoolssuchas“FluentTalk”,“Speaking100”and“FunDubbing”.Itsmostcorevalueliesinthe“one-to-one”virtualtutoringenvironment,whereeachstudent’soralpracticecangetpersonalizedfeedbackimmediately.Relyingonthiskindoffeedback,students’oralcommunicationskillswillgraduallyimprove,andtheirconfidenceinoralexpressionwillgraduallybecomemoresatisfied.Third,therearemanylevelsoforalEnglishteachingitself,andeachdimensioniscloselylinkedbytheinherentlogicalrelationship.ScholarZengXianzhaomentionedthatoralteachingisacoredrivingforce,whichcanhelpprimaryandsecondaryschoolstudentstransformlanguageknowledgeintopracticalskills.Throughoralpractice,studentsabsorbfragmentaryknowledgepointssuchaspronunciation,grammarandvocabularylittlebylittle,andthenintegratethemintocommunicationskillsthatcanbeexpressednaturally.Atthesametime,output-orientedtraininghasalsopromotedtheorganicintegrationandcoordinationoflistening,speaking,readingandwritingskills.REF_Ref12490\r\h[13]ThisstudybelievesthatoralEnglishteachingisactuallyaprocessofmeaningconstructionofthetargetlanguagewithEnglish,andtheunderlyingbasisistheConstructivistLearningTheory.Thetheoryarguesthatlearningistheprocessinwhichlearnerstaketheinitiativetoconstructknowledge.Specifically,eachlearnerreliesonpersonalcognitiontoconstructmeaning,andalsotoconstructmeaningthroughsocialinteraction.Therealsenseoflearningliesinmeaningconstructionitself,andthereisnootheralternativepath.REF_Ref8820\r\h[14]Lookingdownfromthistheoreticalperspective,thefocusofclassroomteachingisnolongeronteachers’teachingwork,butfocusingmoreonstudents’independentlearning.Correspondingly,theroleofteachershasalsochanged,becomingthesupportersandmotivatorsofstudentsthroughoutthelearningprocess.REF_Ref8846\r\h[15]StephenKrashen’ssecondlanguageacquisitiontheoryprovidesgoodpsychologicalsupportfortheapplicationofAIinthefieldofeducation.AccordingtotheInputHypothesisinthistheory,thepremiseofeffectivelanguageacquisitionisthatthelearnermustreceivecomprehensibleinput.Themostideallearningmaterialsshouldbeonlyalittlehigherthanthestudents’currentlanguagelevel,whichistheso-calledi+1learningprinciple.REF_Ref8886\r\h[16]Inpracticalresearch,teacherscaninstantlygenerateandprovidelanguageinputadaptedtoeachstudentwiththehelpof“AISpeakingCoach”.Doingthisjustbypassesacommonproblemintraditionallarge-classteaching,theteachingarrangementisone-size-fits-all,andeveryonerushesforwardwithasetofthings.1.3ResearchSignificanceThisstudyhasrealandpracticalvalue,asshownbelow:Tobeginwith,theAISpeakingCoachbenefitsstudents.Itcreatesanon-stoponlineinteractivelearningenvironmentforprimaryschoolchildren.Underthe“DoubleReduction”policy,children’safter-schoolhomeworkisless,andtheycanusethisAIplatf