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Perry ﻿Language Testing in Asia
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-024-00288-yLanguage Testing in Asia

Open Access

RESEARCH

Podcasting as a form of assessment:
increasing student motivation in academic
English‑speaking assessment
Simon Perry1*   *Correspondence:
sperry@g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp
1

Center for Global Education,
The University of Tokyo, 7‑3‑1,
Hongo, Bunkyo‑ku, Tokyo
113‑8654, Japan

Abstract
This research paper explores podcasting as a viable assessment technique in current
academic English language teaching pedagogy. The study was done with two
3rd-year university classes who created the podcast in groups of four as an academic
English-speaking exam with the goal being to enhance the student’s intrinsic
and extrinsic motivation, through self-determination theory, to assess the students’
speaking skills. Motivation is the core concept of this study, and it aligns with current
trends in technology and a desire among students for speaking assignments
to reflect real-world practices. Critique on the podcast as a form of academic Englishspeaking assessment was given in the form of questionnaire surveys and interviews
with students from the selected classes, with the results presented giving evidence
that podcasting is a suitable alternative method in assessing university student’s
academic speaking skills. It was seen to increase motivation, enhance self-efficacy,and encourage speaking in a suitably congenial environment.
Keywords: English language teaching, Assessment, Podcasts, Motivation

Introduction
Background

The purpose of this study was to increase student motivation through self-determination
theory (SDT), using innovative assessment methods in academic speaking because
traditional methods of academic speaking assessment are increasingly seen as outdated
by students adapting to a rapidly changing technological society. The site of this study
was at a university based in Tokyo, Japan, although the implications are relevant globallyin the fields of English for academic purposes (EAP), English language teaching (ELT),and English as a medium of instruction (EMI) programs. The study used a third-year
university seminar named “Discussion Workshop” as the site of review as academic
spoken English is the main component of this class. This seminar is made up of students,from varying majors in the humanities and social sciences, who wish to gain credits ona course that creates a space for discussion in English. In previous semesters, the formof assessment used at the end of each semester was an individual presentation using
PowerPoint slides in front of the class on a topic relevant to the themes covered in the© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permitsuse, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original
author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third
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class. However, as an attempt to enhance student motivation and create a link to “realworld” technological and social practices, podcasting was introduced as the method of
spoken assessment.
The framework in which this study was conducted consists of an amalgamation ofrecent studies conducted into learner motivation (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020; Graham,
2020; Ryan & Deci, 2020; Schunk & DiBenedetto, 2020; Urdan & Kaplan, 2020), witha focus on the study of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation through the SDT perspective(Ryan & Deci, 2020). This interrelation of aspects of motivation refers primarily toautonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy concerns the ownership of one’s
actions, competence the feeling that one can succeed and grow through mastery ofsomething, and relatedness a sense of belonging and connection. The students combined
a desire for self-improvement with fulfilling expectations made of them as they worked
collaboratively on an assessment method that was new to all of them, thus making Ryan
and Deci’s SDT perspective of motivation a notable framework with which to conduct
this study.
Research gap

The research gaps this study aims to fill are as follows:i) A contribution to the field of multimedia use in ELT classrooms, with a focus onassessment methods. Whereas there has been research conducted into podcasts
as a learning and teaching method, there is little research that focuses on theuse of podcasting as a form of English-speaking assessment. Popular methodsof spoken assessment in the English language have focused on live observation(Ginther, 2003). The recording of spoken performance for later evaluation has
been less popular, but due to advances in technology and social platforms thatenable peer-to-peer communication, this method has the potential to grow. While
spoken assessment has traditionally sought to navigate face-to-face elicitation
issues (Brown, 2010), retrospective assessment through a recording, such as a
podcast, places the emphasis on peer elicitation and gives the examiner greater
opportunities for reflection the spoken performance of the students.
ii) A contribution to research conducted on motivation in ELT classrooms. While
student motivation is a well-researched area, this paper expands this into therealm of assessment. The focus is on academic speaking assessment and how new
methods that are aligned with current trends in technology can increase student
motivation and create more accurate results that reflect a student’s true speaking
abilities in an environment that reflects real-world practices.

Research questions

The study addresses the following research questions:i) Are podcasts a viable source for academic speaking assessment?
The validity framework I have employed to answer this question is argument based(Kane, 1992; Chapelle & Voss, 2021) with the empirical evidence gathered throughPage 2 of 24

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questionnaires and interviews validating the assessment method employed. Theinterpretations made of this qualitative data could validate the appropriateness, quality,and fairness of the assessment, concluding in whether it met the aims of enhancing
student motivation. The test construct was to test speaking ability and communicativeskills, with the desired test impact being an increase in motivation among the test
takers, as well as assessing the validity of podcasting at evaluating speaking ability andcommunicative skills among the students.
ii) To what extent is student motivation increased by creating a podcast as a form ofacademic speaking assessment?
iii) What are the benefits of creating podcasts as a form of academic speaking
assessment?

Literary review
Podcasting

Podcasting is a twenty-first century trend that has expanded into the realm of education
as a useful tool for learning and as explored in this paper, assessment. Focusing on
podcasting in ELT, digital tools and technology are now everyday components of aclassroom and are used to assist in listening, reading, writing, and speaking. Researchdone into podcasting in education has primarily focused on using them as a teaching
resource and a learning resource (Popova, Kirschner & Joiner, 2013; Gachago, Livingston,& Ivala, 2016; Hennig, 2017; Goldman, 2018; Vandenberg, 2018). Hennig (2017) reported
that students enjoyed repeatedly listening to podcasts, learning something new eachtime, just as they would enjoy rewatching a movie or relistening to a song. She also gave
examples of students creating podcast clubs as extracurricular activities, demonstrating
the appeal this format has to students, thus enhancing motivation. Focusing on higher
education, she reported that podcasting had proved an effective and popular method
for both the enhancement of learning and reviewing of study materials in comparison
with traditional lectures and textbooks. This was due to podcasts being convenientand accessible due to the ability to rewind, pause, and contemplate. Importantly, shementions how podcasts were fun, meaning students were motivated in learning them
due to an enjoyment factor. To expand this into the realm of assessment would add adimension of enjoyment to spoken assessment seldom felt. Goldman (2018) is also
assenting of podcasting in education as a teaching and learning tool. As a teaching
resource, he cites “The Walking Classroom” as an example of how using podcasts ina classroom enabled students “to interact with each other as a class, learn while being
active and enjoy a positive and upbeat audio learning experience” (p. 6). This contrasted
with what he described as boredom and tiredness in the typical classroom. As a learning
resource, he claimed podcasting encouraged learning outside of the classroom, a notable
aim of using podcasting as a form of spoken assessment for the research conducted
into preparing the podcast was an essential element of the assessment alongside thespeaking skills. He also mentions how podcasting is a holistic form of learning in thatstudents learn skills surrounding the recording, editing, and publishing of the podcast.
In the research conducted into podcasting as a form of assessment in this paper theirPage 3 of 24

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numerous responses about how students reacted to practicing these skills alongside
their speaking ability.
Vandenberg (2018) claims that podcasting invites more opportunities for the students
to demonstrate what they know and to engage in more critical and coherent thinking.
He also argues that podcasting allows the students to structure arguments and sharediffering perspectives, therefore offering them a space in which to freely express opinionand demonstrate their speaking skills in ways that would not have been previously
explored. Popova, Kirschner, and Joiner (2013) also reported how incorporating
podcasting into lectures added a new impetus for learning, which in turn enhanced
motivation. Their study revealed that students were inclined to ask more questions
about the subject being studied, which demonstrated how they were stimulated toengage in lectures and discussions at levels previously unseen. Gachago, Livingston, andIvala (2016) supported research done on podcasting, which concluded that it supported
deeper learning by adding another element to exploring a subject. They emphasized,
however, that it was a convenient tool for a wide and diverse range of educators andlearners. Their research conducted at a university in South Africa demonstrated that
nontraditional learners with lower incomes for resources were able to benefit fromthe use of podcasting in their educative process, meaning it is socially inclusive. This
inclusivity of the format would extend to using it as an assessment tool where there
would few inherent advantages for students with greater access to technology.
Regarding listening skills, Hawke (2010) developed a listening course based on
podcasts and found that attention spans increased among the students. Notably, as aresult of this pilot study, the test scores were increased post-course in comparison to theresults pre-course. Lebron-Lozada (2014) conducted a study with the students creating
their own podcast, and the results indicated that the students felt more liberated inconversing, leading to a more natural conversational style and fewer errors. As a form ofassessment, podcasting has been researched in the fields of geomorphology (Kemp et al,2012), information systems management (Fernandez et al, 2009), bioscience (Morris,2010), performing arts (Dale & Pymm, 2009), and medical education (Jones, Doleman &Lund, 2013). In all the fields mentioned, the motivation behind the studies was to engage
the learners by using a form of multimedia that the students related to, offering themmore freedom of choice and ability to delve deeper into their topics of choice. Podcasting
as a method of speaking assessment in ELT remains unstudied, but it is practicable if
the aim is to assess students speaking ability, while encouraging critical thinking skills,
deeper analysis of the subject as part of the assessment, structuring coherent arguments,using technical skills, and collaboration. What’s more, the factor of enjoyment creating a
podcast can be transferred to the realm of speaking assessment, thus allowing students
to demonstrate their skills in a conducive environment.
Motivation

Murphy and Alexander (2000) reported 20 terms referring to motivation: orientation,
mastery, performance, and work avoidance, which related to goals. Individual andsituational motivation related to interest. Regarding self-schema, there was agency,
attribution, self-competence, and self-efficacy. Finally, intrinsic, extrinsic related tobehaviour. Since then, the terminology has been expanded, but it remains a broad field,

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and focus is necessary on specific sources for student motivation. Within ELT research
into student motivation, Dörnyei (1999, p. 525) states that “motivation is one of the mostelusive concepts in applied linguistics and indeed in educational psychology in general.”
There have been various themes focused on such as psychology (Gardner & Lambert,1972), cognitive situated perspectives (Crookes & Schmidt, 1991), motivational
strategies (Dörnyei, 2001), and the social context (Bremer et al., 2014; Block, 2003;
Norton, 2000). This paper extends previous research into the realm of technology,
assessment, and “real-world” trends.
Numerous models of student motivation have been created in recent decades thatoffer an insight into the what, how, and why of motivation. Looking at contemporarymodels of motivation offers us an insight into how we can assess what drives students toachieve learning outcomes through assessment. Graham (2020) focuses on the outcome
and the reasons for it, which relate to ability and effort. The individual’s perceptions ofthese lead to enhanced or diminished self-esteem and association with specific groups
within the learning environment, which can create friendship networks and enhancepeer influence. Eccles and Wigfield (2020) determine that motivation is driven by ability,
personal values, goals, and identity fragments, which are aligned with how they benefit
the individual. Thus, expectations for success are related to confidence and personal
efficacy. Schunk and DiBenedetto (2020) have a more goal-oriented model that sees
motivation as an individual’s expectations framed in self-efficacy. Urdan and Kaplan(2020) created a model that focused on achievement, task, learning, performance,
appearance, avoidance, and approach and how these were influenced by the individual’s
personality, the context, and strivings. The classroom structure is an important site in
the student’s motivation in this model and how it influences student motivation.
The model of motivation research by Ryan and Deci (2020) relates to intrinsic andextrinsic motivation and how each influences the individual’s motivation rather than
one being more essential than the other, which is the major framework upon which thisstudy is based. They studied motivation from the self-determination theory perspective,
which is a framework for understanding factors that facilitate or undermine intrinsic
motivation and autonomous extrinsic motivation in educational settings. Ryan andDeci concluded that students’ basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence,and relatedness were largely influenced by positive outcomes of both intrinsic andextrinsic motivational factors. Regarding how their theoretical framework influenced
motivational outcomes, they explain how “SDT assumes people are inherently prone
toward psychological growth and integration, and thus toward learning, mastery, andconnection with others” (ibid, p. 1). SDT in education relates to how more autonomous
forms of motivation will lead to an enhancement of students’ engagement, learning, andwellness. Basic psychological need support from teachers facilitates such motivation,
whereas need thwarting undermines it (Ryan and Deci 2020). Thus, it was a suitable
theory on which to base this study of a collaborative and innovative assessment method
for speaking, where constant support and a conducive environment were the main
motivating objectives.
This research aligns SDT’s influence on motivation studies with spoken assessment,
revealing that enhanced intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can be induced by the use ofcurrent trends in technology and social communication in a collaborative manner with

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ample teacher support. There has been no research to date on podcasting as a form ofacademic spoken assessment, so this study can contribute to both the fields of student
motivation and assessment in ELT by highlighting innovative methods of assessment in
the age of multimedia-inspired educative practices.
Learning‑oriented assessment and podcasting

Voss (2021) states how technology is increasingly facilitating learning-oriented language
assessment, particularly by creating new forms of learning interaction. The learninginteraction captured in this project focused on the reduction of stress and anxiety, toenable the students to learn through assessment in a conducive atmosphere and thus
produce better results. Chan and Lee (2005) found that student anxiety was reduced,
and attitudes were enhanced using podcasts as a learning resource due to the sense of
belonging to a learning community. The notion of comfort is supported by Sayadi and
Mashhadi Heidar (2018) claiming that students can develop their speaking abilities
without the anxiety of speaking before an audience if they create a podcast as a formof speaking practice. Li (2012) concluded that students in his study believed podcasts
to be a more authentic method of practicing English skills due to its relation totechnology. Chung and Kim (2015) also advocate that student enthusiasm is increased
when the option of using podcasts is available. The students in their study believed thelanguage was authentic and drew them nearer to the target language, hence increasing
their motivation and improving their attitudes. Increased enthusiasm and heightened
motivation were also noted by Yoestara and Putri (2019), who also mentioned anincrease in teacher motivation and self-confidence as a result.
Relating to motivation, Al-Mahrooqi and Denman (2018) found that nonconventional
forms of assessment motivate learners and give them the space to do authentic activities
that reflect real-life situations. They emphasized that learning-oriented assessment andsuch nonconventional forms of assessment that promote authentic, performance-basedtasks, such as podcasting, allow assessment and instruction to continuously interact. A
clear coherence is developed between assessment and interaction, meaning the teacher
can gain a deeper insight into student abilities and adapt to their diverse learning styles.
The increasing digitization of education opens up podcasting as a viable source oflearning and assessment. When considering technology-mediated language assessment,
Sadeghi and Douglas (2023) encourage us to consider how validity, reliability, fairness,
ethics, and security should be considered in the digitalization of language assessment,
which are all fair observations about the process of using technology in language testing.
They also suggest that technology adds to the complexity of language assessment, butthey concede that it can resemble real-world authenticity.

Methodology
The research conducted in this study used mixed methods, comprising questionnaire
surveys and semi-structured interviews. Questionnaires provide evidence of patterns
among larger participant sample sizes, such as the two classes that formed the base ofthis study. However, qualitative interviews, conducted in support of the questionnaire,gather more in-depth insights on participant attitudes and thoughts. The quantitatively
analyzed data of the questionnaires was supplemented by the qualitative data

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gathered from the interviews of participants from the same classes that completed
the questionnaires after having done podcasts as their academic speaking assessment.
It is worth mentioning that podcasting was chosen over the creation of videos due tosensitivities over image and being recorded among the students. Podcasting offered
more privacy, which was intended to enhance confidence and freedom of expression.
Conducting the assessment
BackgroundThe study was conducted at a university in Tokyo in the elective Discussion Workshop
seminar for 3rd-year students. The goal of this seminar, conducted in English, is forstudents to develop their proficiency in public speaking through the use of realistic andengaging real-life situational dilemmas and discussion strategies. A stated goal of theseminar is for the students to readily express themselves on complex issues with criticalthinking skills. In previous semesters, the method of assessment had been to present
individually on a chosen topic covered in the course using PowerPoint slides, and thedecision to explore a new format in assessment was taken by the instructor, and not auniversity decision, although support was provided for innovation in experimenting withnew methods that could aid the students. Logistically, the Discussion Workshop seminar
was divided into two classes: the first of which contained 23 students and the second
had 16 students. To conduct the assessment, the first class was divided into five groupsof four and one group of three, while the second class was divided into four groups offour. Podcasting in groupings was used as it aligns with Ryan and Deci’s claim that theindividual has a need to feel related or connected to others and valued by them (2020).
Subject matter

The first five classes of the seminar had covered the themes of globalization andeducation, and the students were given autonomy to decide upon a podcast topic withinthose two broad areas. The students were majoring in a diverse range of degrees, suchas linguistics, international relations, Japanese literature, and sociology. No group had
students that were all from the same major, meaning compromise was essential tochoosing the topic, and no groups chose a topic that was directly related to the studies ofany one student. The topic decisions were made on shared interests among the students
and a relatedness to what had been covered on the course. Topics chosen by the students
included the following:
1. What can the Japanese education system learn from Scandinavia?
2. How can English language proficiency be improved in Japanese universities?
3. What is the relation between social media and globalization?
4. What can Japan learn from South Korean “soft power”?
5. A comparison of Japanese, Chinese, and American university entrance examinations
The topics chosen were broad, and the autonomy provided enabled students to be
entirely in control of the content they would discuss in the podcast. There was teacher
supervision in this process to ensure the topics were “academic” enough and relevantto the themes covered in the previous weeks; however, feedback was minimal andPage 7 of 24

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restricted to suggesting sources of information and directions for prioritizing on what toinclude in the time-limited podcast.
Timeline

Four 90-min classes were dedicated to preparation for the podcasts:••••

Week 1: Topic selection and research
Week 2: Research and rehearsal
Week 3: Recording
Week 4: Editing

The groups were given a further week after the fourth class to continue editing and to
add clippings from interviews and other sound bites required for the podcasts.
Equipment and software

1. Each group was provided with a laptop and a plug-in microphone.
2. In week 3, a room on campus was designated to each group to ensure maximum
privacy and silence when recording.
3. A software program called audacity was downloaded onto each laptop, which wasused by the students to make the recording and do the editing. Instructions were
provided in both English and Japanese on how to record and edit using the software.
A link was also provided to YouTube tutorial videos on the software (in English withJapanese subtitles).
4. Before the deadline, each group had to upload the audio file to a shared Google
drive page. From there, each podcast could be accessed by the teacher for grading
purposes and by any class member as a part of the peer-review process.

Questionnaire survey

A questionnaire survey was chosen due to it being “a systematic method for gathering
information from a sample of entities for the purpose of constructing quantitativedescriptors for the attributes of the larger population of which the entities are members”(Groves et al., 2011, p.2). This collection of declarative data through self-administeredquestionnaires placed an emphasis on the anonymity of the responses to avoid any
sensitivity in sharing opinions. The systematic and efficient manner of collecting data
through a questionnaire was useful for the researcher and convenient for the student
participants who felt as though they were involved in something tangible regarding
research into their recent assessment.
There was a mix of questions using a Likert scale (which ranged from 1 to 10, with
1 being the lowest score for each question), multiple-choice questions, and shortanswer questions. To avoid confusion, the design of the questions, which were in
English, considered the English levels of the students, which ranged from B1 to C2 on
the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale. As thequestions required short answers, there was not an apparent confusion in the responses

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due to linguistic barriers. There were 21 questions in total, and it was designed to takeno longer than 15 min to complete, so as to not overburden the students, to improvereliability, and to encourage a higher participation rate. The questionnaire was conductedusing Google Forms, and a link was shared with the students of each class, who were
given freedom of choice regarding participation. The response rate to the questionnaire
survey was 35/39, which equated to 89.7% of students in the two classes combined. Thishigh rate of response was due to the uniqueness of the assessment carried out and adesire to see it, and other innovative forms of assessment become normalized in the
coming semesters (see the “Motivation” section).
The questionnaire was divided into four sections:
1. Motivation
2. Self-efficacy
3. Collaboration
4. Linguistic capabilities
These sections were created based on the major themes explored in the study. They
offered clarity and made coding the data more feasible.
Interviews

Interviews are a useful qualitative tool to follow-up with individual respondents
after questionnaires. It was essential to further investigate the trends analyzed in thequestionnaires to gain deeper insights into the relationship between motivation andpodcasting as an assessment method. The semi-structured interviews allowed for this
exploration but followed an interview guide that contained a series of questions thatmaintained an element of structure to proceedings. They were not a “fact-finding”
exercise but an interpretation of the “how” and “why” as I explored my researchquestions in relation to the experiences of the participants. The purpose of the interviews
was to produce knowledge in collaboration with the participants, to hear the reflectionsof their experiences and opinions and to interpret the meaning of the relevant datacollected (Brinkmann, 2013).
Nine students participated in the interviews, which were based on the same four
themes explored in the questionnaire survey (see the “Questionnaire survey” section).
Within each category, there was no set order for the questions as I was interested inallowing the participants to express their thoughts and opinions on the topic without
offering a “leading question.” The research questions to this study were exploratory innature allowing for spontaneity in the interviews, which led me to adapt the expectations
for the results and pre-determined assumptions on what student perceptions may be
regarding recording a podcast.
Each interview was between 15 and 25 min in duration and took place on the student’s
campus or online via the ZOOM platform. The interviews were recorded onto an
audiotape and onto a phone (or onto a laptop during the ZOOM interviews) and werethen uploaded onto the researcher’s computer where they were transcribed and coded.
All participants were informed of their ethical rights and were asked to sign a consent
form that had been approved by the university. Names were anonymized as was the site

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of research, and all data has been shared with the participants for clarification. The main
limitation of this method was the researcher’s presence throughout the process, which
could have an influence on the feedback given by the students, despite the assurances
given of anonymity.

Results
For the vast majority of the students, it was their first time to do a podcast as a form ofacademic discourse with the percentage being 94.1%. The novelty of recording a podcast,and doing something multimodal for assessment, was a motivating factor as supported
by comments in the questionnaire to the question: What was your main motivation for
doing this podcast? These included the following:••••

Something new
I have never done it, so I want to try.
Something interesting
To try something new

In the interviews conducted, the relation of doing a podcast and the novelty of thiswere a constant theme as demonstrated by student C, who commented, “I’d always
wanted to record and upload a podcast; this was my first time” (Personal communication,
July 14, 2023). The current generation of university students live multimodal lives where
they receive and share information on a multitude of peer-to-peer sharing platforms,
with podcasts being one example. Extending this experience into assessment of theirlanguage capabilities sought to enhance their motivation in this sphere, and the results
indicated that the prospect of recording a podcast was successful in that regard.
Motivation

Numerous results from the questionnaire survey and interviews related to Ryan and
Deci’s (2020) model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation based on SDT, which relate tostudents’ basic psychological needs for autonomy and relatedness, two recurrent themes
throughout the data. Regarding intrinsic motivation, interest and a sense of anticipation
are essential factors. Among the participants of this research, anticipation for conducting the podcast was essential to creating an environment where motivation was high forthe spoken assessment. In the questionnaire, the anticipated enjoyment one expects togain from doing the task (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020) was expressed by the question: How
motivated were you to do a podcast as a form of spoken assessment? (see Fig. 1).
A total of 25.7% of the students responded with a score of 10 (very enthusiastic), 20%
gave a score of 9, 28.6% a score of 8, and 11.4% a score of 7. The total of responses scoring 6 or below totaled 14.3%, with no respondents scoring below 4. These scores werehigh in comparison to the results when asked: How motivated are you usually to do spoken assessment in academic English class (see Fig. 2).
While there is enthusiasm for doing spoken assessment, what is noticeable is the larger
degree of students who respond with less enthusiastic scores where 13.9% respondedwith a score of 1 (not motivated). In total, 38.9% of students responded with a score of
5 or less on a scale of 1–10. These results offered an indication that initial motivation

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Fig. 1 Motivation to do a podcast as assessment

Fig. 2 Motivation to do spoken assessment

was enhanced when announced that recording a podcast would be the prime method ofassessment. The relatedness of podcasting was demonstrated by student B, who stated,“I feel like podcast is a little bit trendy, so it’s interesting for me…I like the trendy style,so I love this assignment. A new style!” (Personal Communication, July 3, 2023). As well
as relation to what was deemed relevant to this generation of students, the uniquenessof the assessment method was also noted by student D, “Podcast as examination is
fresh for me… It’s boring because every time do the PowerPoint presentation” (PersonalCommunication, July 11, 2023). In the previous semester, the spoken assessment
had been based on individual presentations covering a topic from the course, using
PowerPoint slides to present secondary data and visuals.
The question “What was your main motivation for doing this podcast?” includedin the questionnaire offered further responses that gave a deeper insight into student
motivation in relation to the podcast:• The main motivation for me was that I increased my interest in the problem of fast
fashion.
• Practicing speaking skills and deepen my thoughts about the topic• My main motivation is to know the entrance exam system in foreign countries,
compare these, and talk to other members.
• Four people having fun talking about globalization
These responses support the notion that intrinsic motivation is aligned with interestand inherent satisfaction. Beyond expression of their linguistic capabilities, the students

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were keen to expand their knowledge on a particular topic. It was important to create“need-supportive contexts” (Ryan & Deci, 2020), which allowed a degree of autonomy
in the selection of the assessment topic, which encourages the students to explore
topics for which they have a genuine interest, thus increasing their engagement with theactivity. To enhance autonomous student motivation, it was crucial to offer provision of
choice and a sense of ownership while not omitting structure to the proceedings. This
was appreciated by the students, as demonstrated by student D, who claimed, “I hatestrictness…deciding the topic was fun” (Personal communication, July 14, 2023). Student
A was also representative of the participants when she stated, “I didn’t know about mytopic at all, so choosing and learning about it was fun” (Personal communication, July11, 2023). Using podcasts facilitated the sense of ownership among the students of what
they were discussing due to the relatedness of this form of multimedia, supporting
research conducted into other fields of study using podcasts as assessment (Fernandez
et al, 2009; Dale & Pymm, 2009; Jones, Kemp et al, 2012; Jones et al, 2013; Morris, 2010).
Other factors crucial to intrinsic motivation are inherent satisfaction and enjoyment,
which are stymied by nervousness. Although there were the external incentives andpressure of being graded and peer reviewed, the podcast assessment was designed to be
playful, explorative, and curiosity driven, thus lessening the impact of nervousness. The
students were asked how nervous they usually are when doing academic spoken assessment, and 14.7% responded with a score of 1 (very nervous), 32.4% with a score of 2, and14.7% with a score of 3. Contrarily, just 2.9% responded with a score of 10 (very relaxed),
8.8% with a score of 9, and 2.9% with a score of 8 (see Fig. 3).
In contrast, when asked how nervous they were when doing a podcast as a form ofacademic spoken assessment, the responses indicated that they were considerably lessnervous. A total of 8.6% responded with a score of 10 (very relaxed), 14.3% with a scoreof 9, and 34.3% with a score of 8. Just 17.1% of responses scored 3 or below (see Figure 4). There is a clear contrast in nervousness between podcasting and previous forms
of assessment. The playful and explorative nature of framing the podcast assessment
was designed to make the students comfortable in themselves and boost their self-confidence, which enhances intrinsic motivation and opens up an opportunity to express
themselves in a manner more befitting of their linguistic abilities, as demonstrated by
student G, who stated, “Last year I wanted to get a good grade…but (now) more enjoyable things is connected to get a good grade, so enjoying the class if it’s exciting is important” (Personal Communication, July 13, 2023).

Fig. 3 Feelings conducting spoken assessment

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Fig. 4 Feelings conducting podcasts as spoken assessment

The results also offered insights into a range of factors related to extrinsic motivation,
the external regulation in motivation. Inherent satisfaction is not relevant to this formof motivation, but externally regulated rewards or punishments are the major factors.
The avoidance of anxiety or shame is crucial components, which is largely the teacher’s
responsibility, and it is clear that teacher involvement was crucial to student motivation.
König’s (2020) study of teacher enthusiasm in conducting podcasts demonstrated morepositive instructional quality ratings when the teacher exercised enthusiasm in deliveryof the topic. Positive instructional quality ratings were an inspiration in the researcher’s
conduct in setting podcasts as the assessment, and the results were positive as shownby the results to the question: How would you describe the classroom environment inwhich the podcasts were created? There was unanimous agreement that the environment
was friendly and inclusive. Urdan and Kaplan’s (2020) model based on the context ofthe classroom and how it affects the student’s personality and goals is relatable to theparticipant’s perceptions of the environment in which the podcast assessment took
place. Perceptions among the interviewee participants were positive as demonstrated by
student F, who stated, “You let us talk freely, so we felt good” (Personal Communication,
July 11. 2023), and student B, who commented on the classroom atmosphere, “It wasmore vibrant, so we discussed more” (Personal Communication, July 3. 2023). Focus on
the environment and how it could affect student motivation and perceptions appeared
to have been successful and played a large part in the success of conducting podcasts as aform of assessment. Ryan and Deci (2020) state how SDT in motivation is not automatic,
and needs supportive conditions, such as teacher support and encouragement forthe student’s basic psychological needs, which appears to have been successfully
implemented in this study.
Regarding the question “What was your main motivation for doing this podcast?”,there was an array of responses, related to extrinsic motivation, to which one response
was quite prominent:• To get a good score• To get a higher score• Getting high score
It was clear that the major extrinsic motivating factor for students was to get a good
grade from the podcast assessment, as supported by student C, who commented, “(MyPage 13 of 24

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motivation is) extrinsic. I always want to get a good grade and communicate withthe professor” (Personal Communication, July 14, 2023). There is a sense of control
in extrinsic motivation, mostly regarding the outcome of the activity, which in thiscase was a spoken assessment, and judging by the comments in the interviews, thisform of control has few positive effects on motivation, and overshadows autonomous
motivation, which was the goal of this research. To place less emphasis on grading, thestudents were aware that it comprised just 50% of their final score, with the other 50%
being based on class performance and diligence. This was in contrast to the previous
semester when there was more emphasis on the final presentation for the overall gradeon the course.
It can be concluded that this study also supports the findings of Chung and Kim(2015) and Yoestara and Putri (2019) who advocate that student enthusiasm is increased
when the option of using podcasts is available, with enhanced self-confidence, betteredattitudes, and a greater sense of authenticity. Both intrinsically and extrinsically, thestudents demonstrated a heightened sense of motivation as a result of conducting
podcasts as a form of academic English-speaking assessment in contrast to previous
forms of assessment, which were usually based on individual spoken presentations.
The autonomy offered and conducive environment created enabled the students to feel
involved with the assessment in a more relaxed manner.
Self‑efficacy

Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors
necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1997). With enhanced
self-efficacy, a student can exert control over their motivation toward the goals for which
they strive. Developing a deeper interest in the activities in which they were participating
was essential to lifting the burden of doing spoken assessment, and the autonomy
offered by the teacher, alongside constant encouragement, played an important role indeveloping this. The teacher’s encouragement took the form of positive and constructive
feedback, giving clear guidelines, promoting the sharing of ideas, setting realistic
expectations of what was required in the podcast, demonstrating passion for the project,collaborating in their chosen topics with advice, and being sure to facilitate rather thandominate interactions. It appears that the student’s self-efficacy was enhanced due to theeducator’s constant feedback and peer feedback within the group. This relates to Schunkand DiBenedetto’s (2020) model of motivation, which states that the belief of making
progress is essential to student motivation. Encouraging the students to believe inthemselves had the desires effects as demonstrated by student B, “Talking to my friends
we said this assignment is really interesting. Out of class we did LINE chat, and we weretalking about it…there’s more motivation!” (Personal communication, July 3, 2023).
Student E shared similar feelings, stating, “It (autonomous encouragement) gave me
the chance to search for solutions to problems…it was fun” (Personal communication,
July 11, 2023). The social persuasion exerted by the teacher was a considered approachto enhancing the student’s self-efficacy and appeared to have the desired effects on theenhancement of motivation.
It was compelling to gain the thoughts of the student participants about the “enjoyment factor” for each part of the process in recording the podcast. When asked how

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Fig. 5 Enjoyment of researching for the podcast

Fig. 6 Enjoyment of recording the podcast

much they enjoyed researching the podcast topic, the responses were generally positive
with 14.3% scoring a 10 (enjoyed a lot), 8.6% responding with a score of 9, and 34.3%
with a score of 8. There were just 14.3% of responses at a score of 5 or under (see Fig. 5).
The students were encouraged to conduct research collaboratively, and a class of 90
min was dedicated to this process so the teacher could observe and offer suggestions
about sources. The remainder of the research was conducted by the students in their free
time. When asked about how much they enjoyed recording the podcast, the responses
were overwhelmingly positive (see Fig. 6). A total of 28.6% of students responded withthe maximum score of 10 (enjoyed a lot), 20% with a score of 9, and 17.1% with a scoreof 8. Only 8.6% of responses scored 5 or below, indicating that motivation had been highamong the groups when engaged in the process of recording the process. The students
were given time in class to do the recording, and rooms were reserved around the campus so the groups could be in a quiet zone. This offered them a space where they could
express themselves without the fear of being observed and with no peer pressure to
perform. What’s more, the teacher’s presence was fleeting as the groups were scatteredamong different rooms, meaning that extrinsic motivation in the form of impressing theteacher was not an immediate factor.
When asked about the enjoyment of editing the podcast, responses were less favorable.
A total of 50.6% of students responded with a score of 5 or less (with 10 being “enjoyed alot”), and 49.4% responded with a score of 6 or higher (see Fig. 7).
In the questionnaire, responses were unanimous to the question: What was your least
favorite thing about making a podcast for assessment? 12 of the responses mentioned
editing, and this was supported with opinions shared in the interviews, such as fromstudent B, who stated, “The edit(ing) was interesting, but it was a little bit heavy”

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Fig. 7 Enjoyment of editing the podcast(Personal communication, July 3, 2023). However, several interviewee participants(students B, C, E, G, and H) mentioned that knowledge they could edit improved theirconfidence in speaking and thus they made less mistakes in the first take and finally usedmost of the first edits. What this indicates is although the process of editing proved
complicated and time-consuming, it enabled the students to relax more as they spoke,
resulting in better fluency in the final product.
Collaboration

To the question “Do you prefer doing academic spoken presentations individually orwith classmates?”, the response was heavily weighted in favor of collaboration with 85.7%
claiming they prefer to work with classmates.
When asked to explain why on the questionnaire, the responses included the following:••••

It is real communication with other people, like I want in real life.
We can think deeply compared to individually.
My team member give me passion.
I can enjoy more working with my classmates because I feel anxious of doing somethingalone.
• I can ease the feeling of nervous.
• It is because I can deepen my understanding of the problem through discussion withother members.
These comments demonstrated how social modeling is an important component ofself-efficacy, confidence, and a desire to perform in front of others. Ryan and Deci
(2020) claimed that the individual has a need to feel related or connected to others
and valued by them, which were sentiments expressed in the interviews with theparticipants. Student A shared her thoughts about working on the assessment withclassmates, “I didn’t know about them but during the podcast we got to know eachother… It’s good for making new friends” (Personal communication, July 11, 2023).
This kinship was also expressed by student J, who stated, “My motivation was morehigher than before preparing the podcast, because the discussion in a group was
fun for me” (Personal communication, July 11, 2023). The support network offeredby collaboration was prominent, as expressed by student A who said, “If I do italone maybe I don’t do anything until the deadline but together we were planning

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what we were doing” (Personal communication, July 11, 2023). Student G was also
appreciative of the group connection, “My friends had good English, so they could
help me a lot” (Personal communication, July 13, 2023). Student H shared a similar
notion, “Sometimes my personality is not so talkative, but the other members…aretalkative persons, it helped” (Personal communication, August 2, 2023). Comfort wasalso a recurring theme among the interviewee participants. Student B informed methat “Three or four people is comfortable for discussion…it is really fun” (Personalcommunication, July 3, 2023). This was echoed by student E, who stated, “I felt
more comfortable with people I know” (Personal communication, July 11, 2023).
The concept of comfort is unique to podcasting as a form of assessment due to thecollaborative process and ability to pause, edit, and consider the content. In spoken
assessment that is “live,” such as presentations, there is lack of comfort due to theinability to pause for consideration without fear of reprisal. Being comfortableallows students to produce levels of communication that can reflect more accurately
their true knowledge of the spoken form of a language. In the course aims, it wasemphasized that collaborative efforts in a conducive environment would beprioritized over individualistic course work, and that included assessment. As anelective course, it was important to offer students something different from what theyexperienced in mandatory courses, which were more formulaic in the learning andassessment methods.
To provide further analysis of the collaborative process in making the podcast, thestudents were asked how much they enjoyed it, and 60% responded with the maximum score of 10 (enjoyed very much), which was the highest indicator. A total of
11.4% responded with a score of 9, 14.3% with a score of 8, and 8.6% with a score of 7.
Just 5.8% of respondents chose a score below 7 (see Fig. 8).
This would indicate that the friendship networks and enhanced peer influencementioned in Graham’s study (2020) are important contributors to student motivation
when conducting spoken assessment. The findings of Sayadi and Mashhadi Heidar(2018) and Chan and Lee (2005) that found student anxiety was reduced, andattitudes were enhanced due to the sense of belonging to a learning community when
doing podcasts, were also correlated with the results of this study. This demonstrates
that findings from studies conducted into spoken learning processes also relate to
attitudes in assessment regarding podcasts. The sense of belonging to a community

Fig. 8 Collaboration in the podcast

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is seldom found in assessment, but in conducting podcasts, it was a unique andappreciated feature among the participants.
The connectedness fostered in the collaborative process of recording the podcast was
extended to a desire to hear the podcasts from other groups. The students were asked
about how keen they were to hear the other groups’ podcasts, and the response was positive, with 31.4% responding with a score of 10 (very keen), 28.6%, with a score of 9, and17.1% with 8 (see Fig. 9).
The responses in the interviews indicated that the motivation extracted from hearing
other groups’ podcasts was largely based on linguistic capabilities, as expressed by
student B, “We had to hear about other group’s podcasts…their pronunciation is reallyclear to hear, they spoke freely” (Personal communication, July 3, 2023). Student H
shared a similar sentiment, “It was good practice for me, to improve my listening skills”(Personal communication, August 2, 2023). Student J extended this to listening to her
own podcast, “Listening to myself made me want to practice more…pronunciation skills”(Personal communication, July 11, 2023). As a post assessment activity, the students
were asked to listen to another group’s podcast and prepare comments and questions forthe following class. This further deepened the connections within the class as students
could share their experiences, opinions, and creativity with members of groups beyond
their own, thus offering them more insight into the topics covered, linguistic capabilities
within the class, and creative process.

Linguistic capabilities

When asked on the questionnaire what their favorite thing was about making a podcast
for assessment, there was a common theme among the responses:
•
•
•
•
•
•

It was fun to talk with my groupmates.
I could talk with my team member.
Talking about our topic with friends
It was real, and I spoke a lot.
Talking with classmates. I was more relaxed.
I tried to speak English well as I could without jamming up, but I inevitably mademistakes. It was interesting to see my classmates and myself making mistakes despite
our best efforts.

Fig. 9 Keenness to hear other groups’ podcasts

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(2024) 14:15• I was inspired by the group members’ English ability. I could enjoy to make aconversation with my teammates.
Being offered the opportunity to speak freely and express their linguistic capabilities
in a relaxed and conducive environment appeared to enhance motivation. These results
are in-line with the study conducted by Lebron-Lozada (2014) demonstrating how
students feel more liberated in conversing, leading to a more natural conversational styleand fewer errors. Student H demonstrated this by stating, “I was motivated to show myparticipation through the talking (in the podcast” (Personal communication, August 2,2023). Student F gained motivation from her groupmate’s linguistic capabilities, “I was
impressed by my friend’s English skills. They used ab-lib and I was so surprised” (Personalcommunication, July 11, 2023). The alignment of assessing linguistic capabilities withmultimedia proved to be popular, proving the effectiveness of podcasting as a form of
spoken assessment. Student B shared, “If you want to focus on talking skills podcasts
are good to know about our speaking skills” (Personal communication, July 3, 2023).
On a more technical note, student H stated, “The podcast has no visualization…only
sounds. So, I learnt the importance of accent, pronunciation, and intonation” (Personalcommunication, August 2, 2023). Thus, the validity of podcasting as an assessment tool
for speaking ability appears to be supported by feedback from the students.
It is important to note that the students recognized a difference in their English use
recording a podcast as spoken assessment in comparison to more traditional forms of
spoken assessment. Student G shared that “We felt daily life talking was important, so
we didn’t make a script” (Personal communication, July 13, 2023). She also added that
her main motivation was,“To (get) more confidence speaking English, and to speak reallife English, without a script” (Personal communication, July 13, 2023). Podcasting wasdeemed to encourage a more natural style of speaking in comparison to the previous
assessments conducted, such as PowerPoint presentations, as demonstrated by student
A who stated, “Talking is like a conversation and…it’s natural” (Personal communication,
July 11, 2023). This was supported by student J, “Our podcast is conversation style, so it’smore realistic. We didn’t make a script” (Personal communication, July 11, 2023).

Conclusion
When asked whether they would be happy to repeat recording a podcast as a form ofacademic spoken assessment, 51.4% responded with “yes,” 42.9% with “maybe,” andjust 5.7% responded with “no.” This indicates that overall, the podcasting as a form ofacademic spoken assessment was a success, and the students who participated would
be happy to repeat the process. One of the reasons to conduct podcasting as a form of
spoken assessment was to enable students to relate their academic English discourse to
the realities of how they engage with the language. When asked whether they listen to
podcasts in their free time, over half said yes. There is an array of activities conductedin speaking skills classes, particularly regarding assessment, which bear little relation to“real-world” activities, thus decreasing relatedness, which in turn decreases motivation
among the students who proceed to regard assessment as a means to get credits. The
results from this study correlate with Li (2012) who concluded that there was moreauthenticity for the students in the method of creating podcasts as they felt they

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were expressing their English skills in a manner relevant to the contemporary use oftechnology. Student C confided that “It’s great (using technology and software in theassessment), because we cannot avoid them and they are required when I apply for ajob” (Personal communication, July 14, 2023). The relevance of podcasting was also
expressed by student H, who stated, “I often to listen to podcasts…so it was not likea test for me. I can commit (to) this task more relaxed.” She went on to say, “Manypeople has the demand to listen to podcasts, so to learn and practice to make one…how
to tell and show our feelings through the internet is important in the future” (Personalcommunication, August 2, 2023). Student I spoke in a similar vein, “We didn’t have any
opportunity to (use multimedia), so I learned for the first time…it’s important.” (Personalcommunication, August 8, 2023). This selection of quotes represents a wider feeling thatthe use of relevant social technology motivates students due to it being an extension of
their everyday practices that relate to their social world and future professional practices.
This relation enhances their motivation to perform beyond the accumulation of grades
and credits.

Discussion
The results from the questionnaire survey done by the student participants were
mostly conclusive in that conducting podcasts as a form of academic English spoken
assessment was well-received. This was supported by data extracted from the interviews
conducted with students, which revealed that topic research was made more enjoyable
and relevant, motivation was enhanced, and self-confidence improved. A safe space
was also created in which students could speak freely and express their linguistic
capabilities without fear in an environment they felt was conducive and relatable totheir “real-world” practices. From student feedback, it can be applied that podcasts are a
viable source for academic speaking assessment. The majority of students were keen to
repeat the process, and in the interviews, the participants were unanimous in declaring
podcasts as an authentic method with which to test a student’s English-speaking ability.
Ryan and Deci stated that “SDT argues that need supports enhance intrinsic motivationand internalization, resulting in higher achievement, whereas, paradoxically, attempting
to control achievement outcomes directly through extrinsic rewards, sanctions, andevaluations generally backfires, leading to lower-quality motivation and performance”(2020, p.2). The results indicate that following this theory was successful in achieving
the goals of the podcast due to the environment created in which external influence over
extrinsic motivations was kept to a minimum, while offering support for student’s basic
psychological needs was maximized.
To the research question “Is student motivation increased by creating a podcast as
a form of academic speaking assessment?”, the participant response was positive. The
study was designed to create highly self-efficacious students with enhanced motivationin the assessment process. Through the observing of others, support of others, andpositive affirmation from teacher and peers, self-efficacy was enhanced, which led to ahigher level of motivation. The aforementioned factors strengthened the belief among
the students that they had the ability to succeed due to an increase in self-confidence.
Collaboration was an essential component of increasing student self-confidence, andthe response was overwhelmingly positive. Working with peers to create the podcast led

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to a support network that increased self-confidence and created an environment where
inspiration was taken from each other linguistically and motivationally. What’s more, theuniqueness of doing a podcast as a form of assessment was a motivating factor due toits originality and freshness, which meant the students were motivated to try something
new.
Intrinsic motivation is an important component of learning and through this study
was extended to the realm of assessment. Through intrinsic motivation, the aim was toinstill a sense of autonomy in the process where the students could take ownership ofthe essential components of the assessment. Decisions on topic selection, the research
process, recording and editing process, and the style and format of the podcasts werelargely left to the students within their groups, which enabled a sense of freedom.
This led to a playful, explorative, and curiosity-driven process, which was fostered by
the teacher to ensure there was enjoyment in conducting the assessment. Anotherimportant aspect of intrinsic motivation is relatedness, which was expressed in thisstudy through collaboration with classmates and through relation to social activities
that the students conduct outside of class. The social learning experienced throughcollaboration was inspired by observation, imitation, and modeling, which led to theneed to contribute within the group setting, thus increasing motivation. Autonomy
and relatedness in conducting the podcast as a form of assessment garnered a senseof inherent satisfaction, which is the essence of intrinsic motivation. A high level ofinherent satisfaction motivates a student beyond externally regulated factors and ensuresthat motivation is high when conducting a task, something vital in an environment suchas spoken assessment, which can often be a daunting process.
Extrinsic motivation is predominantly based around externally regulated rewards
or punishments and among the students in this study was predominantly expressed
through the desire to achieve a high score. This form of motivation was not the main
focus in this study of enhancing student motivation but should not be discounted as it is
the accumulation of credits that enables a student to graduate and successfully achieve
one of the major purposes of attending tertiary education. However, if the essential
components of intrinsic motivation are addressed in assessment, it is likely that student
motivation will be enhanced, resulting in higher levels of performance in assessment.
Regarding the teacher’s role in the assessment process of podcasting, enthusiastic
presentation of instructional content when adopting such a contemporary assessment
format was essential. This was because evolving away from traditional assessment
formats requires a leap of faith from both the teacher and student, and thus, support,
guidance, and encouragement were necessary to convince both students and teacher ofthe process. The major contribution of the teacher in this process was creating a relaxedand supportive classroom environment, which was a major focus in the preparation of
the study and according to participant responses would appear to have been achieved.
The other research question to this study was “What are the benefits of creating
podcasts as a form of academic speaking assessment?” It was encouraging to see thatthe students believe their linguistic capabilities were expressed in a natural, fluent,and competent manner due to the notion that podcasting was more relatable, and thecollaborative process enabled them to inspire and support each other. The liberation
for students to speak freely without the external pressures of teacher presence orPage 21 of 24

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an audience led to fewer errors and more freedom to express themselves on theirchosen academic topics, which in turn led to higher grades and a deeper sense ofachievement. The students felt as though they had met their goals in demonstrating
their ability to speak naturally, something achieved due to the use of scripts not being
convenient to podcasting as a form of assessment.
The technical aspect of recording and editing the podcast added a multimodal
component to the assessment. Although the technical quality of the podcast
just comprised a small proportion of the final grade, it gave the participants andopportunity to combine their linguistic capabilities with technical capabilities
highly relevant to the digital age, thus once again enhancing the relatability of theassessment. The participants had the opportunity to use skills that they are largely
competent with in their time outside of class, such as editing, and using technology torecord their thoughts. This extension of their private activities and the social aspectof the assessment added to their motivation.
With regard to future research, an experiment would be useful to empiricallytest inter-rater reliability in judging whether results are higher due to the useof contemporary social-technological processes in spoken assessment. While
podcasting as a teaching and learning resource has been well researched, there are
not an abundance of studies that analyze it as an assessment technique, and thesewould be useful to create a more rounded view of its feasibility. In general, more
research is needed into using multimedia in language assessment in a manner that
increases student and teacher motivation while enabling the students to practice anddemonstrate an array of skills that extend beyond their linguistic capabilities. Such
research will continue to develop language assessment in a manner befitting a fluid,
immersive technological age. Finally, a continuation of research into SDT and how it
affects motivation within the classroom are a useful tool to assessing how student’s
basic psychological needs can be met when conducting assessments in educational
spaces.
Abbreviations
CEFR	Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
EAP	English for academic purposes
ELT	English language teachingEMI	English as a medium of instruction
SDT	Self-determination theory
Acknowledgements
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Author contributions
I, Simon Perry, am the sole author of this work.
Author’s information
Simon Perry is an assistant professor in the Center for Global Education, the University of Tokyo, Japan. He researches
issues in sociolinguistics with a focus on plurilingual language concepts, such as English as a lingua franca andtranslanguaging. He also takes an interest in human capital and innovation in English language teaching. He is
specifically interested in how these issues effect teacher and student identity.
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Availability of data and materials
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Received: 6 November 2023 Accepted: 11 April 2024

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