Integrating Multimedia Tools to Enrich Interactions in Live Streaming for Language Learning

Online language lessons have adopted live broadcasted videos to provide more real-time interactive experiences between language teachers and learners. However, learner interactions are primarily limited to the built-in text chat in the live stream. Using text alone, learners cannot get feedback on important aspects of a language, such as speaking skills, that are afforded only by offering richer types of interactions. We present results from a 2-week in-the-wild study, in which we investigate the use of text, audio, video, image, and stickers as interaction tools for language teachers and learners in live streaming. Our language teacher explored three different teaching strategies over four live streamed English lessons, while nine students watched and interacted using multimodal tools. The findings reveal that multimodal communication yields instant feedback and increased engagement, but its use is dependent on factors such as group size, surroundings, time, and online identity.