- Why is this research being conducted?

This research seeks to investigate if the use of an ASR-based mobile application can improve the speech intelligibility of Brazilian learners of English. This research aims to contribute to the field of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) as the data acquired can help understand the educational uses of technology and how mobile devices can support language learning, especially in times of remote learning.

- What will be your role in this research?

In this research, high school students from Colégio de Aplicação (UFSC) will be invited to use an application called "ELSA Speak" for a month. They will take pronunciation tests to measure how intelligible their speech is before and after the use of the application. In this research, the intelligibility of the participants will be measured by the orthographical transcription done by listeners.
Should you accept this invitation, your role will be to listen and orthographically transcribe sentences recorded by the participants of the research. This means you will receive audio files recorded by the students, listen to them and type what you hear in a text file. You will also answer a questionnaire with questions regarding your experience with the English and the Portuguese languages.

- Will my identity be revealed?

Throughout all the phases of the research, all collected data will be strictly confidential. There will be no sharing of any information that may reveal your identity. During the data collection, all data will be stored in a safe, virtual platform, which will be accessed only by the researcher and his advisor. Although this platform offers high levels of protection, there is a risk, even if remote and involuntary, of data disclosure. To reduce this risk even further, the researchers shall use a paid storage cloud, which provides additional safety measures.
Once the data collection is concluded, the researchers will download all collected data to a local device and will erase any data on the cloud.

- Is there any risk involved in participating in this research?

Even though this research has no physical risks involved, there are some risks of social and psychological nature that the participants may feel during the research. Listeners may feel bored, tired and/or frustrated as a result of transcribing the sentences.
Your participation in this project does not pose any COVID-19 risks, as all the procedures will be conducted remotely.

- Are there any benefits to participating in this research?

Even though there are no direct benefits for those who decide to participate as listeners, this research will be beneficial to teachers and learners of English as a second/foreign/additional language, as it will allow us to understand: a) the process of teaching and learning a second language with the aid of mobile technologies; b) the feedback given by Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technologies; and c) the perceptions of the students regarding mobile learning. Considering that mobile technologies are widely used for remote learning these days, the potential contributions of this research are of great value for the school community, especially for teachers and researchers of foreign languages.

- Am I required to participate in this research?

No. Participation is completely voluntary. The decision to participate or not will be respected, and it will not affect your relationship with the researcher or the institution.

- Can I quit after accepting to participate?

Yes. Even after accepting to participate, you can leave at any point. To do so, please email me at daniel.reschke.pires@gmail.com or at the phone (48) 99910-1405. By doing so, no further data will be collected, and any data previously collected will not be used. This will not affect your relationship with the researcher or the institution.

- Will there be any expense?

No. However, if there are any proven extraordinary expenditures associated with the research, you will be reimbursed. Also, you have the right to compensation in case there is any damage resulting directly from your participation in this research.

- How do I get in touch if have any questions?

If you have any doubts or questions, you can be in touch with one of the researchers via the emails daniel.reschke.pires@gmail.com or celsotumolo@yahoo.com.br.
This research has been approved by the Ethics Committee from UFSC under the number 44097421.0.0000.0121. This committee is responsible for approving this type of research. You can reach them to verify the integrity of this research with following information:

Comitê de Ética em Pesquisas com Seres Humanos - CEPSH-UFSC
Prédio Reitoria II (Edifício Santa Clara),
R: Desembargador Vitor Lima, nº 222, sala 401, Trindade, Florianópolis/SC
CEP 88.040-400
Contato: (48) 3721-6094
cep.propesq@contato.ufsc.br

About CEPSH-UFSC: this committee is an interdisciplinary, deliberative, advisory, and educational organization, which is attached to UFSC, but independent in its decision taking. It was created to defend the interests of research participants and their integrity and dignity, and to contribute to the development of research within ethical standards.

The responsible researcher, Celso Henrique Soufen Tumolo, is committed to conducting this research according to resolutions nº 466 de 12/02/2012 and nº 510/16 de 07/04/2016, which provide the ethical principles and the protections to research participants.

---

Please click on NEXT to go to the next page.