Speakable Solves the 5 Biggest Problems With Teaching Language

Class sizes can be large and when the class is learning another language, the size can be unwieldy. Providing individualized formative feedback is so difficult. 

As a Spanish 2 teacher, I face an enormous challenge. I need to give my students constant feedback as they acquire new vocabulary. I want them to pronounce words correctly and develop meaningful communication skills. In this blog post, I’ll share how Speakable has helped me improve my classroom. It has also allowed me to help my students continuously improve their Spanish-speaking skills.

Sponsored by Speakable. All opinions are those of Dawne Beck and Vicki Davis.

Even with access to digital platforms and tools that let students record themselves, I’ve found myself in the past facing the cumbersome process of grading. I also had to give individualized corrective instruction. Often by the time I grade and return assignments, I’ve already moved on to the next concept to meet standards and pacing. 

This blog poist is written by Dawne Beck. Dawne teaches Spanish 2 to 10th-grade students and teaches Spanish at the college level. She has a Master’s in Fine Arts – MA, Foreign Languages, Spanish.

Add to this the research in language learning that suggests the necessity of basic pronunciation practice in communication. AI is showing early promise for teaching clear pronunciation. Nonetheless, until now, it has not been easy to give frequent, meaningful, low-stakes opportunities for practice and assessment. These challenges hinder truly supporting students’ second-language acquisition and fluency. However, I recently learned about a tool that is both manageable for teachers and empowering for students.

Speakable has been a game-changer for my classroom instruction. I tested Speakable extensively in my second-year Spanish classroom. My daughter is also in the class, so I’ve listened to her receive feedback and interact with Speakable. Through this testing, I’ve found that Speakable is an invaluable tool. It enhances teaching efficiency and improves students’ confidence in their communicative abilities. The website has a plethora of adaptable functions. In this post, I’ll break down five primary ways it is impacting my classroom and the problems it solved.

Problem #1: How can I meet so many student needs?

The problem: Traditionally, in a foreign-language classroom, teachers have limited time to work on students’ pronunciation individually. Traditional methods may limit practice to one student at a time which makes some students wait. However, if I use partners, students might move too quickly. They may transition from learning vocabulary to producing too fast. They will practice with mistakes. I can’t get to all of the groups. As a result, students continue to make mistakes.

How Speakable Solves The Problem:

Speakable offers multiple-choice options for basic vocabulary recognition, allowing teachers to assign mastery practice. However, the site surpasses typical recognition exercises by offering pronunciation practice through read-and-record activities. It also provides listen-and-repeat activities so they can receive immediate corrective AI feedback. While practicing pronunciation and recognition independently, students get quick corrective oral feedback. This feedback better equips them to move to classroom application.

Problem #2: How can we have more speaking assignments and how can I grade them?

The Problem: Conducting speaking assignments is time-consuming, especially in large classes. Listening to each student individually, providing constructive feedback, and documenting results takes a lot of time!

How Speakable Solves This Problem:

Speakable’s AI-powered assessment feature offers immediate, standards-based grading using actual foreign language proficiency standards. 

I’m able to:

• Set assessments to grade automatically using novice, low, mid, or high standards
• Personally review AI-graded assignments quickly with clear insight into where students are struggling
• Override Speakable’s AI feedback to give my own

The nice thing is that I can listen to every student’s answer. I can also let Speakable provide immediate corrective feedback. This feedback can be based on my own rubric or the national standards. After the activities are complete, I can see performance insights. There’s full transparency. Speakable easily integrates with Google Classroom, allowing teachers to post from the Speakable website and have grades populate.

Problem #3: Am I as the teacher, students’ primary language input? How can they hear other voices speak the language?

The problem: As an experienced teacher, I want to provide resources to my students. I want them to hear language spoken by a variety of native speakers. 

How Speakable Solves This Problem:

Speakable includes options to vary the accents (Spanish and Latino voices), so students can receive authentic pronunciation training. I choose the voice for students to hear when completing vocabulary pronunciation exercises. I can also record my own voice if I really want to personalize a question. Furthermore, students can choose to speed up or slow down the voice for accessibility!

Problem #4: How do we help students get comfortable being uncomfortable?

The problem: At a time when students are very concerned about peers’ opinions, they may feel nervous when asked to speak in a group. Anxiety is a huge barrier to communication. No one likes to feel embarrassed. Still, students have to learn to take risks! 

How Speakable Solves This Problem:

Speakable provides for private practice opportunities before class participation. I sometimes assign short activities for completion in class. After training students on how to use the site, I primarily assign activities for outside class.

Speakable provides immediate, non-judgmental AI feedback based on the proficiency standards I set. Or, I can do all the grading myself – even grading from the app on my smartphone. Once students have adequate practice with personalized, immediate gamified feedback, they feel more confident in participating in class.

Problem #5 Do we settle for vocabulary recognition that falls short of communication?

The problem: Designing, implementing, and assessing student pronunciation is imperative to build communication skills. Nevertheless, it can be exhausting as the year wears on! 

How Speakable Solves This Problem:

What sets Speakable apart is its flexibility for authentic communication practice. Rather than limiting students to vocabulary drills, I can use Speakable to build from recognition to authentic production. For example, I build in my essential questions to focus on conversational skills. I create an activity where students practice and repeat vocabulary. Then, I include one or two previous essential questions. I also add a few new essential questions from the current unit.

For a novice classroom unit, for example, students could answer:

• “How are you?” (review)
• “Do you like English or math class more?” (current unit)
• “What will you do on the weekend?” (warm-up practice)

I love the option to include media. For a more advanced activity, I can display an image of a class of students. I might ask, “What is there in the classroom?” Students have an allotted time of 30 seconds to 3 minutes. The duration depends on my objectives. They record their response or write it if I choose. They answer the questions based on their observations.

My Conclusion About Speakable

This scaffolded approach means students are constantly building on prior knowledge. They practice new concepts simultaneously. This method is exactly what research shows is most effective. Speakable has effectively integrated AI into its platform. This platform improves student learning by adapting to spoken language. It responds in real time to unique responses!

In just a few weeks, I have already seen improvements in my students’ pronunciation. Their confidence to speak up in class has also improved.

Low-stakes, frequent practice that is accessible to students and intuitive for teachers to implement: Speakable meets these needs!

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored blog post.” The company who sponsored it compensated the author and this blog via cash payment. They might also offer a gift or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we believe will benefit my readers. They are also from companies we can recommend. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”