The Music First
In a traditional listen-and-repeat drill, the learner hears a sentence, stops, remembers it, often translates it, and then says it. In shadowing, listening and speaking happen at the same time.
Because the student trails the native voice by only 250–500 milliseconds, there's no time to translate. Sound goes straight from hearing to speaking, and the student's timing locks onto the rhythm of the sentence.
Prosodic shadowing narrows the focus to pitch, stress and rhythm. That makes it achievable for learners who can't yet copy every word.
What Happens in the Brain
Swipe to see the whole diagram.Melody Before Words
Researchers teach shadowing in three steps, from easiest to hardest. Cadenza's Echo step sits in the middle. The Watch step before it makes sure students already understand most of what they hear, because shadowing works best on material learners mostly understand.
Hamada, RELC Journal, 2019- 1
Mumble
Copy the sound and rhythm only.
- The Echo Step2
Melody
Copy pitch, stress and rhythm, without worrying about every word.
- 3
Words and Meaning
Copy every word while following what it means.
The Quarter-Second Window
Fast shadowers repeat speech about a quarter of a second behind the speaker, too quickly to have stopped and remembered it first.
Marslen-Wilson, Nature, 1973A Direct Line From Ear to Mouth
Speaking while listening uses the brain's dorsal stream, which maps sounds onto mouth movements. Brain scans of shadowing show hearing and speech areas working together.
Hickok & Poeppel, 2007; NeuroImage, 2009Measured Listening Gains
In a study of 43 university English learners, nine shadowing lessons improved how well they heard individual sounds, at both levels tested.
Hamada, Language Teaching Research, 2016Short Clips, Then Stop
Shadowing is intense, and learners report tiring in long sessions. Each Echo loops a short clip for about a minute rather than pushing through a long one.
Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 2018Motivation That Comes From Inside
In Cadenza, each student types in what they're curious about and gets missions built around it. That choice is the point. Self-determination theory, developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, holds that motivation from inside lasts when three needs are met: autonomy, competence and relatedness.
Using a language to work on something you care about is also how project-based learning works. A 2023 meta-analysis found a moderate positive effect of project-based learning on English proficiency, which is why Cadenza pairs a student's own topic with daily speaking practice.
Anxiety pulls the other way. Stephen Krashen called it the "affective filter": an anxious learner takes in less. The idea is still debated, but the link between anxiety and results is well measured.
Build a Marine Robot
Design a Martian Colony
Run a Paris Bakery
A loop that feeds itself. Students choose a topic they love, speak about it every day, unlock a real ability, and choose again with more confidence.
Autonomy
Feeling that the choice is yours
Students type in their own interests, so every mission is about something they chose.
Competence
Seeing yourself get better
The ability map shows what a student can now do, mission by mission, instead of points or grades.
Relatedness
Feeling connected to others
A patient partner who listens, and classmates sharing what they made in class.
The average link between language anxiety and achievement across 97 studies, 19,933 learners and 23 countries. The more anxious students feel, the lower their results tend to be.
Teimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2019Guiding by Example
One person, one language is a strategy bilingual families have used for over a century: each parent sticks to one language with the child. Studies of these families point to consistency as what matters most.
When the child makes a mistake, a parent typically doesn't stop to explain a rule. They recast: say the sentence back correctly and carry on. Cadenza's partner works the same way, in the language the student is learning.
A review of 15 classroom studies with 827 learners found that spoken feedback helped students improve, the gains lasted, and younger learners benefited more than older ones.
The Marine Robot
Sam, age 9We builded the propeller with three blades, but it don't turn fast enough!
Pip, your Cadenza partnerOh, you built the propeller with three blades! But it doesn't turn fast enough?1 What happens if you tilt the blades?3
Sam, age 9If we tilt the blades, it pushes more water and it turns faster!2
- 1
Corrects by Example
The right words come back inside the reply. No stopping, no red marks.
- 2
Grammar Through Use
Sam picks up the pattern by using it. Teachers can name it in class later.
- 3
Keeps It Going
A follow-up question keeps the student talking for longer.
A Prompt
The partner asks the student to have another go.
Why Cadenza Doesn't Prompt
Prompts make students notice the gap, and in the same review they had larger effects than recasts. But each one stops the conversation, so Cadenza's partner always recasts. Teachers can still use prompts in class.
Evidence at a Glance
Shadowing Sharpens Listening
Controlled study: 43 university learners, nine lessons. Gains in hearing individual sounds.
Hamada, 2016Shadowing Links Ear and Mouth
Brain imaging: hearing and speech areas work together during fast repetition.
NeuroImage, 2009Motivation From Inside Lasts
Theory with decades of research behind it: autonomy, competence and relatedness.
Ryan & Deci, 2000Projects Help Moderately
Meta-analysis: 17 effect sizes for English proficiency. Moderate effect.
Mujiono et al., 2023Anxiety Lowers Results
Meta-analysis: 97 studies, 19,933 learners. Average correlation −0.36.
Teimouri et al., 2019Feedback in Conversation Works
Meta-analysis: 15 classroom studies, 827 learners. Durable effects, larger for younger learners.
Lyster & Saito, 2010
What We Don't Know Yet
Cadenza as a Whole
Cadenza is new and hasn't been tested in an independent study yet. Each pilot measures what students can say and do, and we share the results with the school.
Age of Learners
Much of the shadowing research was done with teenagers and adults learning English. Studies with younger children are still few.
Recasts Versus Prompts
In classroom research, prompts had larger effects than recasts. Cadenza's partner only recasts, so speaking never stops for a correction. How much teachers add by prompting in class is a question a pilot can help answer.
Melody and Individual Sounds
Echo focuses on melody, stress and rhythm. Whether some students also need separate practice on individual sounds is something pilots will show.
Sources
- Barron-Hauwaert, S. (2004). Language Strategies for Bilingual Families: The One-Parent-One-Language Approach. Multilingual Matters. Link
- Hamada, Y. (2016). Shadowing: Who benefits and how? Language Teaching Research, 20(1). Link
- Hamada, Y. (2019). Shadowing: What is it? How to use it. Where will it go? RELC Journal. Link
- Hickok, G. & Poeppel, D. (2007). The cortical organization of speech processing. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 8, 393–402. Link
- Auditory–motor integration during fast repetition: the neuronal correlates of shadowing. NeuroImage (2009). Link
- Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Pergamon. Link
- Lyster, R. & Saito, K. (2010). Oral feedback in classroom SLA: A meta-analysis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32(2), 265–302. Link
- Marslen-Wilson, W. (1973). Linguistic structure and speech shadowing at very short latencies. Nature, 244, 522–523. Link
- Motivation and attitude towards shadowing: learners' perspectives in Japanese as a foreign language. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2018). Link
- Mujiono, Weganofa, R. & Herawati, S. (2023). Project-based learning intervention and its effect on promoting English language proficiency: Meta-analysis. International Journal of Instruction, 16(4). Link
- Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. Link
- Teimouri, Y., Goetze, J. & Plonsky, L. (2019). Second language anxiety and achievement: A meta-analysis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(2), 363–387. Link
See it with your own students
For schools that measure success in what their students can do.