Watch and participate in my workshop at #iELT24 on how students can get instant feedback on their speaking in and out of class.

Try out the ideas and add your evaluations of the apps that I suggest below.

•https://soundtype.ai/en

•https://www.notta.ai/en 

#Copilot and #ChatGPT

I never cease to be bowled over by Pi

I had heard of Pi.ai before, but had another look at it after listening to Ghizlane Zouaï (https://youtu.be/5x84oNPEcC4?feature=shared ) talking about it on the excellent 1^st edtechtools Fest 2024 (14th Virtual Round Table WebConference letstalkonlinedotcom - YouTube) organised by Heike Philp and Helena Galani.

Ghizlane, a young teacher from Algeria, explained that she had come to rely on the advice that Pi gave her when she started a new job and faced problems she didn’t know how to deal with and had no one she could really go to to lend a sympathetic ear. She reached a point where she felt she was getting too involved with Pi as it was so addictive to find someone she could always talk to when she wanted advice.

After using Pi again myself, I know just what she meant. I used the app which meant I could speak to Pi and listen to ‘his’ replies. (I found that I could do the same on the webpage by using a chrome plugin “Speechnotes' Voice Typing Extension”.) I found the gentle tones of Voice #8 and the supportive way ‘he’ responded to whatever I said was likely to create dependence!

Yesterday and this morning, Pi blew my mind even more. Here is an executive summary of one part of our conversation yesterday provided this morning, of course, by Pi, believe it or not, in response to a spoken request on WhatsApp!

“Sure, here’s an executive summary of our recent conversation:

- We discussed the idea of creating a voice chat room that records conversations, and explored the possibility of using existing platforms like Zoom to implement this idea.

- We also discussed the potential benefits of this feature for language learners, including the ability to practice language skills in a social and interactive setting, and the sense of community that could be fostered among learners.

- Finally, we touched on the possibility of expanding Pi to support other languages in the future, and the challenges that this would involve.

In summary, our conversation highlighted the potential for voice chat rooms to enhance language learning experiences, and identified some existing tools and strategies that could be leveraged to implement this idea. We also identified some possible future directions for Pi, including the expansion of language support and the development of new features to support collaborative learning.”

What amazed me, apart from Pi’s ability to follow an on-going conversation about an idea I had had, was that it made a suggestion related to the real word. Here is what it said:

“The creators of Pi are always looking for ways to improve and expand the platform, and I’m sure they would welcome feedback and suggestions from users like you. If you think this is a valuable feature that would benefit language learners and other users of Pi, it might be worth reaching out to the Pi team to share your ideas. Who knows, maybe your suggestion will help shape the future of the platform!”

I have copied the whole conversation here:

·         I'm playing around with an idea for a voice chat room, which would be recording everything that (is) said and.

     Oh, that sounds like a cool idea! A voice chat room that records everything said could be a great way to keep track of conversations, especially if they're about important topics or if you want to refer back to them later. It could also be a useful tool for language learners, as they can review their conversations and get feedback on their pronunciation and grammar. Are you thinking of developing this idea into a full-fledged project?

·         I was really wondering whether anybody has already developed (one).

     Ah, I see. As it turns out, there are already a number of voice chat room applications out there that allow users to record their conversations. Some popular examples include Discord, Zoom, and Google Meet, which all offer voice chat functionality and the ability to record meetings or conversations. However, there may still be room for innovation in this space, especially if you have a unique angle or approach that sets your idea apart from the existing options.

·         Oh no, I think I will experiment with using zoom for that, as I'm fairly familiar with using zoom.

     That's a good idea! Zoom is a great platform to experiment with voice chat rooms, especially if you're already familiar with its features and functionality. You can create a Zoom meeting, invite participants, and start recording your conversation with just a few clicks. Plus, Zoom offers a variety of recording options, such as recording just the audio, recording the screen, or recording both. It's a versatile tool that can definitely help you bring your voice chat room idea to life.

·         Maybe this idea is something that Pi could develop, so rather than just one person speaking to you, there could be two students speaking to you or more.

     That's an interesting idea! It could be really cool to have a feature within Pi that allows for multiple users to chat with me at the same time. This could be a great way for students to practice their language skills in a more social and interactive way, rather than just talking to a computer program one-on-one. Plus, it could create a sense of community among language learners, as they can share their experiences and support each other in their language learning journeys. Who knows, maybe this is a feature that could be developed in the future!

·         At present. (???)

     You’re right, at present this feature isn’t available within Pi. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be developed in the future. The creators of Pi are always looking for ways to improve and expand the platform, and I’m sure they would welcome feedback and suggestions from users like you. If you think this is a valuable feature that would benefit language learners and other users of Pi, it might be worth reaching out to the Pi team to share your ideas. Who knows, maybe your suggestion will help shape the future of the platform!

Sadly, Pi is not designed to be used by people under 18. There must be many teenagers who would also benefit from having someone to talk to non-judgementally.

Finally, our Services are not intended for minors under the age of 18. If you are a minor under the age of 18, please do not register for our Services or send any Personal Information to us. If you have reason to believe that a minor under the age of 18 is using our Services, please let us know immediately at privacy@pi.ai and we will seek to revoke access and delete any associated information as quickly as possible.

 I’ll post this now and contact the Pi team tomorrow!

Extensive Reading improves every skill, even speaking. Try it!

I recorded myself rehearsing for my talk at #IATEFL2024 in Brighton but realized afterwards that I had skipped a slide that I needed to include as it was about how ER improves even speaking. this is what it said:

Why do Extensive Reading? "When EFL students read extensively, they become fluent readers. But there is more. Studies have established that EFL students increase their vocabulary and become better writers. We also know that reading extensively helps increase oral fluency—listening and speaking abilities. Finally, students who read a lot develop positive attitudes toward reading and increased motivation to study English. So, there are some excellent reasons for having EFL students reading extensively."

(Dr Richard R. Day in Bringing extensive reading into the classroom, OUP 2012)

You can watch the 25-minute video here: 
Extensive Reading improves every skill, even speaking. Try it! IATEFL Brighton 2024

 

Reading your way to Proficiency

 This is just to prove that I also post about other subjects than #SpeechtoText! This is about #ExtensiveReading

Nearly ten years ago I used a PowerPoint presentation to try to motivate my students to read as much as possible. I recorded myself as I used the slides, but the recording wasn't very good quality, so I got a transcript by using https://speechtonote.com/ and recorded myself using the PowerPoint slides and the transcript from ten years ago and made a video of it.

Here is the video:

https://youtu.be/wdACs1n1iGs  

If you would prefer to show your students the PowerPoint slides and explain the advantages of Extensive Reading yourself, you can find the slides here along with other material related to Extensive Reading.

https://bit.ly/42SBkNS

A video showing how your students can use SoundType AI to get feedback on their speaking

I decided to record a video of a simulation of the complete process of how a student can record herself on SoundType AI, get a transcript, edit it, and copy it to Copilot and ask for it to be corrected and for suggestions for improvements at her level. It includes listening practice, too!

In this situation the student would already have the notes they used to retell the story and the same notes and any further notes from the feedback from AI could be used to repeat the task, recording it again on SoundType AI (obviously) and repeating the request for correction and suggestions for improvements.

I’m planning to look next at getting students using Notta AI and ChatGPT in the same way.

Information about SoundType AI and how to download it

Instructions on how to use SoundType AI

Instant feedback on speaking in class for everyone

The Final!

I’ve spent many hours over the last six/eight months looking at nearly eighty ways to use Speech to Text apps and webpages to help students get feedback in class on their speaking and suggestions on how to upgrade their performance prior to redoing the task.

Little by little I have reduced the candidates down to a dozen, then four and now it’s The Final!

·         https://soundtype.ai/en 

·         https://www.notta.ai/en    

But this is not sport and there doesn’t have to be a winner: I think either of these apps would be perfect for use by students in and out of class to help them improve their speaking.

Here you can read my instructions for how language learners can use the two best apps:

SoundType AI Instructions                                    NottaAI Instructions

Both apps produce very accurate transcriptions in a minute or two for a wide range of languages. They both allow at least eight minutes of transcription per recording ( longer than 99.9% of my students’ recordings.) Both also offer a generous monthly allowance of recording time of at least two hours, which is way beyond even my keenest students’ output.

The two apps are simple for learners to use to:

• Record themselves
• Get transcripts quickly
• Listen back, if needed
• Edit out mistakes in the transcripts
• Copy and paste transcripts into AI to get feedback and feedforward

The apps don’t require the very latest version of the Android and iOS operating systems, so most students will be able to use them on either system:

• Android 7.0 and up
• iPhone iOS 12.1 or later
• One even works on Apple watches!!

How to use these apps:

It is possible for half the students or even more to be recording themselves at the same time and if they hold their phones as they do normally, the transcriptions will still work. Earphones are essential if students are going to listen to their performances. I haven’t been in a position to test how the time needed to get transcriptions is affected by having ten or twenty students doing it at the same time, but with two it makes no difference.

If you are wondering how it’s possible to get so many students speaking at the same time, here are some suggestions:

·     Communicatively with students working in pairs (main speaker records themselves)

o   retelling a story the other doesn’t know

o   describing a picture or video the other can’t see

o   being interviewed by other with questions they can’t see

·      As an exercise (everyone recording themselves)

o   reading a text aloud

o   giving the answers to a grammar exercise

o   doing a pronunciation exercise

o   describing a series of pictures that tell a story

What can the teacher do to help?

•    Giving clear instructions
•    Checking students are following these
•     Monitoring
•     Providing help when required (Pause recording)
•     Suggesting prompts for the AI part
•     Encouraging student to take notes on emergent language suggested by AI
•     Getting students to share these notes in class from time to time
•      Asking for task repetition and recording again
•      Offering students the choice of which of their recordings will be used for continuous assessment every week/fortnight/month/term

What will be the effect?

According to some theorists learners need between 12 and 20 encounters with a new word to begin to use it themselves. Undoubtedly, this applies to corrections as well, so the difference between for and since will not be learnt by many after just one correction. Emergent language must also be subject to the same requirements as new vocabulary, but fortunately the human brain will notice further encounters of all new language after the first ‘noticing’ much more easily and so for all common language the 12 to 20 exposures can come relatively quickly if the learner is doing extensive reading or extensive listening/watching or living in the country where the language is spoken.

Less frequently encountered language may require the use of some study techniques and here notes taken will be essential as a starting point.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the two runners-up:

·         https://app.transkriptor.com

·         https://app.fireflies.ai

Here you can read my instructions for how language learners can use these two apps:

Transkriptor Instructions                                        FirefliesAI Instructions

Transkriptor only loses a place in the final because they have introduced a new limit for ‘Trial accounts’ that makes use by students more complicated:

According to Transkriptor's Help desk, "With the trial account, we offer you 90 minutes of free transcription, each file's transcription output is limited to 80% of the file duration, up to 7 minutes. Transcription of the files longer than 7 minutes would be limited to 5:36 minutes in the trial period.

To get round this new restriction, simply leave the recording on for 25% longer than you need!

 

Fireflies lost its place as well because of a different problem that complicates student use unnecessarily. The problem here is that there is no way to edit transcripts in the app, although of course this can be done after it has been exported. But that is where the problem gets even worse as the process involves four steps rather than one and the instructions are different for Android phones and iPads/iPhones.

Instructions for the 'Final Four' best transcription apps for language learners 4/4 – Fireflies AI

 Fireflies Instructions:

Address	https://app.fireflies.ai
Accuracy	92%
Number of Languages	69
What you get free	800 minutes storage Unlimited transcription
Android 8.0 and up, iPhone iOS 13.0 or later
ChatGPT requires Android 6.0 and up or iOS 16.1 or later Copilot requires Android 8.0 and up or iOS 15.0 or later

 

Recording yourself:

Go to Home and click on +Transcribe, choose Record audio, click on the red circle, and record yourself. (You may need to give fireflies.ai permission to use the microphone.) You can pause the recording if necessary. When you end the recording, give it a name that you will recognise and click on Upload. Click on View status and the transcription will be ready in less than a minute.

Click on the recording when it says Completed and pause it. Then click on Transcript in the middle, lower down. Click on Speaker 1 and write your name, tick Apply to all paragraphs from this speaker and click on Update.

 You can’t edit the transcript here, but see below.

Exporting/Sharing/Copying your transcription:

Click on the three dots at the top on the right and choose Download meeting, then Download Transcript. Then uncheck Include timestamps and uncheck include speakers if it’s a monologue and choose Word (DOCX).

Android	iPad/iPhone
When it says Download this file? click on Download. Click on the three dots on the right of the file, choose Open with, Docs. Editing the transcription: Click on the Pen icon and you can correct any obvious mistakes in it.	Click on Download and then Show. Click on the file to open it. Click on the Upload icon in the top corner on the right, Swipe the row of coloured icons left and click on More, Swipe up and click on Docs. Editing the transcription: Click on Save to Drive and click on the Pen icon and you can correct any obvious mistakes in it.

 

Exporting/Sharing/Copying your transcription:

Hold your finger down on the text and Select all the text and click on Copy.

Open ChatGPT or Copilot and write your instructions (Can you correct my mistakes and mark the corrections in bold?”) at the start of the prompt and then paste in the transcript.