Associations between generative AI-based pronunciation feedback and willingness to communicate in English: the mediating role of English pronunciation self-efficacy.

Yang Lu, Yanchao Yang, Tianxue Cui, Zeyang Yang, Yuanyuan Cai, Bosheng Jing

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Yang LuFaculty of International Languages, Qinggong College, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, Hebei, China.

Yanchao YangInstitute of International Language Services Studies, Macau Millennium College, Macao, Macao SAR, China.

Tianxue CuiCollege of Public Administration and Humanities, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, Liaoning, China.

Zeyang YangDepartment of Psychology, School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.

Yuanyuan CaiDepartment of Human Resources, Qinggong College, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China.

Bosheng JingSchool of Humanities and Languages, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study draws on Social Cognitive Theory to examine the association between learners' perceptions of generative AI (GenAI)-based pronunciation feedback and their willingness to communicate (WTC) in English, with English pronunciation self-efficacy considered as a potential mediator. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from a convenience sample of 1,701 Chinese university EFL learners. Covariance-based structural equation modeling and bias-corrected bootstrapping were employed to test the hypothesized relationships and mediating effect. The results showed that positive perceptions of GenAI-based pronunciation feedback were significantly associated with greater WTC in English. English pronunciation self-efficacy partially mediated this association, with the indirect effect accounting for 69.9% of the total effect, while the direct effect remained significant. These findings suggest that pronunciation self-efficacy is an important, but not exclusive, psychological mechanism connecting perceptions of GenAI-based feedback with WTC. GenAI-based feedback may also relate to WTC through other mechanisms, such as reduced communication anxiety and enhanced psychological safety. By conceptualizing GenAI-based feedback as a technology-mediated environmental influence and pronunciation self-efficacy as a personal cognitive factor, this study extends the application of Social Cognitive Theory to the Chinese EFL context and offers new insight into how intelligent feedback technologies may support learners' readiness to communicate in English.

Indexed as

Chinese EFL studentsEnglish pronunciation self-efficacygenerative AI-based pronunciation feedbackmediation analysiswillingness to communicate

Identifiers

PMID42661669

DOI10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1918980

PMCPMC13518164

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.