Study: AI Speech Evaluation With Automatic Feedback May Aid 40 Chinese EFL Learners' Speaking

A 2023 SAGE Open study examined whether automatic feedback from AI speech evaluation programs can help English as a foreign language (EFL) learners develop speaking skills. Forty EFL learners in China took part, with qualitative and quantitative data collected. Results showed most participants believed the AI speaking evaluation program's feedback improved their speaking skills, and mean speaking-skill scores rose significantly from pre-test to post-test. The study suggests AI speaking evaluation systems offer more varied textual feedback and practical suggestions.

The study moves AI speech evaluation from tool usability toward pre- and post-test comparison of speaking skills, giving teachers and product teams a verifiable empirical reference for feedback design. Its influence centers on feedback content design and out-of-class speaking practice, but with only 40 Chinese undergraduates in a single study, findings should not be generalized to other education levels or larger groups. Teachers and product teams can focus on the variety of textual feedback and practicality of suggestions in AI speaking evaluation, not scores alone. The study offers small-sample pre- and post-test evidence for out-of-class EFL speaking practice with AI speech evaluation, but wider adoption needs more independent verification.