Enhanced Gamified AI-Enhanced Dubbing Applications and Speaking Engagement in Business English: Evidence from Guangdong Universities

Abstract

Background: Business English programmes in China face a persistent gap between students' formal language knowledge and their ability to participate actively in spoken business communication. This challenge is especially salient in Guangdong, where universities are expected to prepare graduates for the multilingual, internationally oriented labour market of the Greater Bay Area. Purpose: This study examined whether a gamified AI-enhanced dubbing application could strengthen speaking engagement among Business English students and identified which gamification elements and AI features were most closely associated with behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement. Methods: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was implemented over eight weeks with 120 Business English majors from three Guangdong universities. Students were assigned to treatment (n = 60) and control (n = 60) conditions within intact class arrangements. Quantitative data came from engagement scales and platform analytics, while a small supplementary qualitative component of interviews and focus-group responses from treatment-group students was used to contextualize the statistical results. Results: Post-intervention overall engagement was significantly higher in the treatment group (M = 4.28, SD = 0.54) than in the control group (M = 3.19, SD = 0.61), with a large effect size (d = 1.89, p < 0.001). Behavioral engagement showed the largest gain, followed by emotional and cognitive engagement. Hierarchical regression indicated that gamification elements, AI features, and their interaction terms explained 68.2% of the variance in overall engagement, and qualitative responses suggested that visible progress indicators and AI feedback promoted repeated practice and reduced speaking anxiety. Conclusions: Gamified AI-enhanced dubbing can meaningfully increase speaking engagement in Business English classrooms when game mechanics are paired with adaptive feedback and difficulty adjustment. The findings support the pedagogical value of integrating gamification and AI rather than treating them as separate design layers.