A to Z Co., Ltd.
A to Z, which supports the development of global human resources, has started providing “Clara”, an English performance test for elementary school students using AI, nationwide
Demonstration experiment results reveal that class support by ALTs contributes to evaluation of “pronunciation”
A2Z Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, President: Michiko Endo), which aims to “develop truly global human resources,” has launched “Clara,” an AI-based English performance test for elementary school students. We are pleased to announce that we will start providing it to public elementary schools nationwide. “Clara”, which we developed in partnership with Aid Co., Ltd., has been tested at public elementary schools in Nagano Prefecture since September 2022, and the accuracy of AI evaluation and evaluation results can be used to improve classes. We have been conducting demonstration experiments on its utilization. This time, we have judged that it can be fully utilized in the English education field of elementary schools and can make proposals for improving classes, and will expand the provision to public elementary schools nationwide as the official version. In addition, we were able to quantitatively measure that English proficiency, especially in terms of
“pronunciation,” has improved at schools in local governments where our ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) provide English instruction from the lower grades of elementary school. , we will inform you about the results.
[Image 1: https://prtimes.jp/i/105387/4/resize/d105387-4-67edee26c615b1129745-0.png&s3=105387-4-170fb8157f34f1b7ded2b4e8aaf8b06c-1284×564.png] In the future, we will support various issues in elementary school English education, such as disparities in teaching methods and a large workload for teachers, with the support of “Clara” and our ALTs, so that children can feel that “speaking English is fun!” In addition, we aim to develop human resources who can play an active role globally from public schools.
Background of nationwide expansion
According to the results of the 2023 National Academic Ability and Learning Status Survey (National Academic Ability Test) announced by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on July 31, 2023, junior high school English “speaking” skills, which was implemented for the second time in four years The average correct answer rate was 12.4%, revealing that the English speaking ability is low.
In recent years, from the 3rd year of Reiwa, “foreign language activities” to learn English in the 3rd and 4th grades of elementary school has become a compulsory subject, and from the 5th grade onwards, it will be evaluated as a “subject” on the report card. I made progress in improving my English. On the other hand, the results of national academic tests show that there are major problems in the area of English speaking, where many Japanese teachers lack confidence or find it difficult to allocate time to teaching. To address these issues, we have jointly developed an English performance test with Aid Co., Ltd. to support the English education of elementary school students. This test was realized by linking the know-how in elementary school English education that we have accumulated over many years through dispatching ALTs, and the English speaking evaluation AI called CHIVOX (R) ︎, which has been widely introduced in educational settings. Did.
After that, as a result of introducing the test at public elementary schools in Nagano Prefecture for about 8 months from September 2022, we achieved a correct answer rate of about 96% even when compared with the scoring results of native speakers and English teaching experts. Since it has become possible to use it in the field and to develop concrete measures to improve classes, we have officially released it as “Clara,” an English performance test for elementary school students, and expanded its service area nationwide.
Demonstration experiment in Nagano Prefecture Results analysis (1) Differences in English learning efforts by municipality affect the results Our company has been dispatching ALTs for a long time and supporting the construction of the curriculum, so that the children of A town school, who are familiar with English from the lower grades of elementary school, have a result that the average score of the overall score and “pronunciation” greatly exceeds the overall average. Ta. It is thought that the results were influenced by the differences in the approach to English learning in each municipality, and that the systematic implementation of utterance-centered instruction according to the developmental stage of the children led to the results. In the past, it was difficult to measure these results quantitatively, but the introduction of Clara has made them visible.
In English education, children’s language acquisition begins with “listening”, so having an environment where they can hear and speak accurate native pronunciation from the nursery school and early grades will have an impact on their future pronunciation. I understand.
[Image 2: https://prtimes.jp/i/105387/4/resize/d105387-4-5af7da13d1a281c9464b-4.png&s3=105387-4-0eb5c09a185725ae8490afe933cca2a6-881×247.png] Excerpt from the results of demonstration experiments at elementary schools in Nagano Prefecture. In addition, there are categories for “Fluency” and “Grammar”
(2) AI automatic scoring achieves a 96% correct answer rate for evaluations by native speakers and experts
AI automatic scoring achieved a correct answer rate of about 96% compared to the scoring results of rubric evaluation (*) native speakers and English teaching experts.
There were some voices that could not be graded properly due to the influence of the recording person’s low voice, unclear utterance, and noise. Convenience can be further improved by making surface improvements.
Furthermore, we will make concrete improvements to the environment in which children take tests.
*Rubric evaluation: A table for evaluating the degree of achievement of goals in school education. A list of specific learning goals and the level of achievement for each. Also, the evaluation method using it. Source: Digital Daijisen (Shogakukan)
(3) Linking the visualized learning effects to improving lessons As described above, by using Clara, it is possible to extract issues for each region, school, and class from the data and make concrete proposals for improving lessons in terms of learning effects. For example, a class with a lower than average fluency score could reinforce its efforts to eliminate embarrassment, or focus on words with lower than average pronunciation scores and ask the whole class to For example, overcoming the pronunciation of words.
(4) Significant reduction in evaluation time
In some cases, evaluation of “speaking” skills in the Course of Study has taken about 3 minutes for each individual test. is occurring. By using “Clara” this time, children can take the test all at once in the classroom, and the test time that used to take 90 minutes can be completed in about 20 minutes. I was able to use my free time to review tests and communicate with the ALT.
Voices of children and teachers who participated in the demonstration experiment Impressions of children
“It was like a game. I want to do more.”
“When is the next Clara?”
We received many impressions that the fun of taking the test is connected to the children’s desire to learn English.
Teacher’s impression
“Normally, it is difficult for children to try new things and have them enjoy English, but when we started this performance test, Clara, the atmosphere became a lot more fun. It was nice to see them working hard.”
Overview of “Clara,” an English performance test for elementary school students using AI
Origin of “Clara”
[Image 3: https://prtimes.jp/i/105387/4/resize/d105387-4-d04b41beb38263aa6253-5.png&s3=105387-4-5d647cc4d20b6a8b404569657a5367ff-1270×641.png] The word “Clara” means “clear” in ancient Greek. The name “Clara” comes from the desire to clarify what children are good at and what they are not good at, and to clarify what each individual should practice to become able to speak English. In addition, we hope that children all over Japan will acquire “usable English” and coexist with the world and play an active role.
The character that appears in the test is the owl “Clara”. The owl has long been popular as a symbol of knowledge and wisdom as a “symbol of wisdom” and “a symbol of learning”.
Test flow
Students log in to Clara with their assigned ID/password and select each test and explanation video of the test according to the purpose, scene, and situation.
Check the flow of the test and points to note in the explanation video, listen to the question sentences with the owl “Clara”, and record the answers by voice.
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[Image 5: https://prtimes.jp/i/105387/4/resize/d105387-4-c191f819b00dacc392f5-0.png&s3=105387-4-f22ed112a48759156390ff684516651e-777×437.png]
[Image 6: https://prtimes.jp/i/105387/4/resize/d105387-4-393c695a0fc9f6ef952c-3.png&s3=105387-4-42aa6628cbdd598466c116ed1822cfe1-1042×894.png] content
Follow the course of study
Eligible outline
Of the 4 skills and 5 areas of “listening, speaking (exchange, presentation), reading, and writing”, 2 areas of communication and presentation of speaking skills
Target grade
6th grade elementary school
Required digital terminal
tablet, computer
*Basically, the contract period is one year.
* It is also possible to introduce the “Clara” system alone. * ALT dispatch can be considered together, so please contact us. Contact information
Please contact us if you are interested in introducing this service to local governments or schools.
Public Education Division: Kurumizawa
Phone: 0263-28-2366 Email: yoshitomo@atoz-ed.com
Click here for the press release that started deployment in Nagano Prefecture (September 2022)
https://atoz-ed.com/%E5%85%A8%E8%88%AC/%E5%85%AC%E7%AB%8B%E5%B0%8F%E5%AD%A6%E6% A0%A1%E5%90%91%E3%81%91%E3%81%AE%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E%E3%82%B9%E3%83%94%E3%83% BC%E3%82%AD%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0%E8%A9%95%E4%BE%A1ai%E3%80%8C%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E% E3%83%91/
■ About A to Z https://atoz-ed.com/
Since its founding in 1987, A2Z has developed a wide range of businesses centered on Nagano Prefecture, including dispatching ALTs and other public education support, language school management, and corporate support. ” is listed. We have dispatched more than 800 attractive and excellent foreign teachers (ALTs) in total, and we are developing original programs that enable cross-cultural understanding beyond language learning, from English classes at schools to schools and online programs that anyone can attend. I’m here. We will continue to create a “global human resource development ecosystem” in Nagano Prefecture and contribute to increasing the number of Japanese who are active in the world.
■ About Aid Co., Ltd. https://aied.jp/
An EdTech venture that develops PaaS (Platform as a Service) English speaking evaluation AI “CHIVOX (R) ️” introduced by more than 1,000 companies globally. With the mission of “EdTech’s core technology for ‘future learning’ for everyone”, we provide a wide range of technology solutions to the English education industry, from infants to corporate English learning materials.
・ Company name: Aid Co., Ltd.
・Representative: Yuki Kubota, Representative Director
・Head office location: 8th floor of Kagurazaka AK Building, 1-8 Tsukudo-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
・ Business description: Business development using the English speaking evaluation AI “CHIVOX (R) ︎”
Details about this release:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000004.000105387.html
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