AI-assisted Digital Shadowing: A Comparative Experiment on Chinese Acquisition of International Students in Chinese Universities

Twelve first-year foreign students at W University in Hangzhou, China, participated an 8-week independent reading experiment of The Complete Book of Chinese Literacy, they were divided into three groups using three different reading modes: tablet PCs, scan-reading books, and traditional paper books. The post-test revealed that the scan reading group outperformed the E-book group and the traditional paper group in reading time, reading amount, reading mode preference, Chinese characters recognition rate, reading comprehension rate, HSK test score, Chinese speaking ability, and standard level of pronunciation. The experiment results indicate that AI-assisted digital shadowing can effectively promote second language acquisition, particularly the "one-to-one" AI tutoring which is highly effective in practicing spoken Chinese and Mandarin pronunciation and is preferred by TCFL learners. This experiment provides valuable experience and reference for the reform of international Chinese teaching.