Developed by Ying Zhou, English Language Centre, School of Languages, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Target area

Assessment support

Target Skills

Speaking

 Target Language Level:

CEFR B1 – B1+

Mini Viva Partner is a supportive AI tutor designed to help Year 1 EAP students prepare for their speaking exams. This exam, known as the Mini Viva, assesses students’ understanding of their written proposals. The AI tutor generates two types of exam-style practice questions by combining provided sample questions with the strengths of large language models (LLMs): (1) general questions aligned with specified exam categories, and (2) specific questions tailored to each student’s individual written content.

Key features:

  • Simulates exam conditions to produce relevant practice questions
  • Offers a guided outline to help students develop responses to the generated practice questions
  • Provides written feedback on students’ answers to support improvement
  • Promotes self-directed learning and helps build confidence for the exam

Suggestion for users

    • Share one paragraph from the written proposal at a time to enable the AI tutor to generate specific, tailored questions
    • Respond proactively to the practice questions to receive constructive feedback
    • Use the agent alongside other GenAI tools that support voice interaction, such as Doubao