Client Background
The Spanish Department at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) sought to improve the speaking and listening skills of first-semester Spanish students in their online courses. These courses were typically able to provide only one hour per week for students to practice speaking together, which was not sufficient. The program found that by the end of the semester, many students had not developed the necessary speaking skills to advance to the next level.
The Challenge
With only one hour of live speaking practice per week, many students struggled to develop the oral communication skills necessary to confidently advance to the second-semester Spanish course. The program needed a solution that could integrate extensive dynamic speaking practice into the curriculum without increasing instructor workloads or disrupting students’ schedules.
The Solution
To address these gaps, UIUC partnered with IMMERSE to provide students with innovative, interactive speaking practice outside of their traditional coursework. During the Fall 2024 semester, students participated in a pilot program incorporating IMMERSE’s key features:
- Instructor-Led Live Classes: Students attended live, small-group lessons each week within the IMMERSE platform.
- AI-Powered Practice: Learners engaged with AI-driven conversation and pronunciation exercises to build fluency and confidence.
- Asynchronous Homework Replacement: The experimental group replaced two hours of traditional homework with IMMERSE activities, while the control group followed the standard Spanish 101 curriculum.
Results and Impact
The pilot study included 60 students across four Spanish 101 sections, divided into an experimental group that used IMMERSE and a control group that did not. Preliminary findings highlighted significant advantages for the experimental group that had access to IMMERSE's live communication-focused lessons and AI-powered practice features:
- Improved Speaking Fluency: Students in the experimental group showed greater confidence and accuracy in speaking by the end of the semester.
- Increased Engagement: IMMERSE’s interactive activities motivated students to participate actively in language practice.
- Better Learning Outcomes: The students who used IMMERSE outperformed the control group by 7.5% on their final oral exam.
Students appreciated the dynamic and low-pressure environment provided by IMMERSE:
- “I feel like it helped me learn better and made me more engaged in class. I wasn't confused anymore. In class, I was actually participating because I knew some answers.”
- “It helped me with pronunciation and forming sentences before I went into the live class.”
- “I liked that it was very social, and there was a lot of interaction between other people.”
Lessons Learned and Takeaways
The partnership demonstrated that integrating IMMERSE’s interactive, technology-driven speaking practice into online courses can significantly enhance student outcomes. By replacing traditional asynchronous homework with IMMERSE’s engaging, practical speaking features, language programs can better prepare students for real-world communication.
Help your language learners improve their speaking skills with IMMERSE
Looking to enhance your university’s language programs with supplemental interactive speaking practice? IMMERSE’s flexible partnership program provides students with access to an interactive Learning Path, including unlimited AI-powered language practice.
Connect with our Growth team today to learn more!
