Enhancing English Pronunciation Learning in Primary Education through Natural Language Processing: A Quantitative Study

Learning English pronunciation is crucial for primary school pupils to enhance their communication skills, yet many struggle. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a natural language processing (NLP) tool in improving English pronunciation among primary school pupils by measuring motivation, confidence, and performance. Conducted in a primary school in Johor, the research used a randomised controlled trial (RCT) design with 30 Year 3 pupils, divided into two groups of 15 each: control and treatment. The English teacher assessed motivation, confidence, and performance using a rubric-based evaluation, with a Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.932, indicating high reliability. Paired t-tests were conducted to determine if the differences in motivation, confidence, and performance between the two groups were statistically significant. For motivation, t-values ranged from -1.871 to -1.468 for the traditional method and -6.548 to -13.229 for the NLP method. For confidence, t-values ranged from -1.871 to -1.468 for the traditional method and -11.500 to -7.135 for the NLP method. For performance, t-values ranged from -1.871 to -1.000 for the traditional method and -6.548 to -13.229 for the NLP method. With α = 0.05, the mean differences in motivation, confidence, and performance were significantly different for the NLP method (all p-values < 0.05) but not for the traditional method (all p-values > 0.05). High partial η² values, ranging from 0.474 to 0.827, suggest that the teaching methods account for a significant proportion of variance in the dependent variables. With α = 0.10, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) assessed the effectiveness of the teaching methods. The combined dependent variables significantly differed based on teaching methods, Pillai Trace = 0.95, F(24, 5) = 3.72, p < 0.074, partial η² = 0.95. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that the NLP tool enhances English pronunciation learning by significantly improving motivation, confidence, and performance among Year 3 pupils.