Developing a mobile Assistive Listening App to support high school students with Chinese reading and phonological...

This study mainly reports the development and preliminary usability evaluation of a mobile Assistive Listening App for junior high school students with Chinese reading and phonological difficulties. The app integrates speech enhancement, noise cancellation, voice recording, and speech-to-text conversion functions. The feasibility of classroom application and students' perception of usefulness, as well as satisfaction with the app, were both examined and analysed.

Twenty-five students with reading disabilities voluntarily joined the implementation. The Android-based app contained the following four functions: (1) speech enhancement, (2) noise cancellation, (3) voice recording with backup, and (4) real-time speech-to-text conversion. The system operated as a remote microphone system, with the teacher serving as the transmitter and students receiving the audio via Bluetooth. At the end of the study, students completed a 25-item self-report questionnaire rated on a 4-point Likert scale to assess their satisfaction.

The Likert-scale responses (on a 4-point agreement scale) for each question were averaged to identify trends. Mean ratings indicated generally high levels of satisfaction across most items. The highest-rated aspects were note-taking assistance, lecture understanding enhancement and thoughtful service of research team. Technical stability received relatively lower ratings. Academic performance impacts and motivation showed mixed results.

The Assistive Listening App may provide an accessible alternative to traditional FM systems for students with Chinese reading and phonological difficulties. The data reflected students' subjective perception of usefulness and satisfaction and potential feasibility of classroom implementation, although there was no objective evidence of their improved learning achievement.