This paper explores the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI (GenAI), in supporting the teaching, learning, and assessment of second language (L2) listening and speaking. It examines how AI technologies, such as spoken dialogue systems and intelligent personal assistants, can refine existing practices, offer innovative solutions, and address challenges related to spoken language competencies, as well as drawbacks they present. It highlights the role of GenAI, explores its capabilities and limitations, and offers insights into the evolving role of GenAI in language education. This paper discusses actionable insights for educators and researchers, outlining practical considerations and future research directions for optimizing GenAI integration in the learning and assessment of listening and speaking.

This article is a personal view of the application of results from three areas of research that I believe are relevant to developing second language speaking in the classroom: task repetition, pre-task planning and communication strategies. I will discuss these three areas in terms of level of research application – where research is not applied well (task repetition), where it is reasonably well applied (pre-task planning), and where it may have been over-applied (communication strategies). For each area I briefly review the relevant research to highlight how teachers can potentially apply the research findings to scaffold learning processes in speaking. I will also suggest how much of the research is getting through to teachers and being taken up in day-to-day teaching of English. I draw mainly on my own extensive experience as a teacher educator for over 20 years working with pre-service English teachers of bilingual students in Singapore schools and in-service teachers attending professional development courses or pursuing Master's degree studies, as well as college English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers from the People's Republic of China receiving postgraduate teaching certification in English language teaching (ELT) and higher degree qualifications in my university each year. I will also include some observations about classroom practice based on a survey of selected course books.

An examination of a distinctive intonation pattern in the English of Singapore