The Effects of AI-Assisted English Reading Aloud Activities on Middle School Students’ English Proficiency and Affective Factors

This study investigated the effect of English reading activities on English achievement, fluency, and affective factors among 26 third-grade English learners in Korean middle schools. Microsoft Teams’ Reading Progress, an AI-based tool, was used to provide English text appropriate to the learner’s level for English reading activities, and the AI pronunciation analysis results provided by the program are used for individual analysis. First, regarding the effects of reading English aloud on students’ achievement showed significant results in the listening and reading skills. The significant results shown in the low and middle groups suggest that English reading classes are helpful in many areas in the English achievement of low-achieving students. Regarding the effect of English reading aloud on the reading fluency of students across different proficiency levels, it has been shown to consistently improve the fluency of students in the upper, middle, and lower groups. Lastly, looking at the change trends in affective factors, it can be seen that all factors have steadily increased little by little, but not indicating the significant effect of reading English aloud on affective factors. This study found that reading aloud in English not only has a great effect on reading comprehension, but also allows students to discover the joy of reading.