Optimizing English Listening Pedagogy Through AIGC: Evidence From TTS-Enhanced Anxiety Mitigation, Metacognitive Awareness, and Performance Gains

This study examined the efficacy of Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC), specifically Text-to-Speech (TTS) technology, in addressing three persistent challenges in English listening pedagogy: high learner anxiety, underdeveloped metacognitive awareness, and suboptimal performance. Guided by the IDEE framework, an eight-week quasi-experiment was conducted with 100 Chinese senior high school students (50 control, 50 experimental). Post-intervention analyses with Bonferroni correction revealed significant between-group differences: anxiety reduction (<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</i>(98) = -2.76, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</i> = .021, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">d</i> = 0.55), enhanced metacognitive awareness (<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</i>(90.34) = -3.06, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</i> = .009, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">d</i> = 0.61), and improved listening performance (<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</i>(98) = 4.51, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</i> < .001, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">d</i> = 0.90). Within the experimental group, paired samples t-tests confirmed substantial anxiety decrease (<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</i>(49) = 5.07, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</i> < .001) and metacognitive gains (<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</i>(49) = -5.45, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</i> < .001). These results demonstrate AIGC’s capacity to alleviate affective barriers through adaptive input scaffolding while fostering cognitive regulation. The study establishes TTS technology as a pedagogically transformative tool that advances sustainable listening instruction through personalized, cost-efficient interventions.