Chatbot research has received growing attention due to the rapid diversification of chatbot technology, as demonstrated by the emergence of large language models (LLMs) and their integration with automatic speech recognition. However, among various chatbot types, speech-recognition chatbots have received limited attention in relevant research…

A text recommendation system helps language learners find suitable reading materials. Similar to graded readers, most systems assign difficulty levels or school grades to the documents in their database, and then identify the documents that best match the language proficiency of the learner. This graded approach has two main limitations. First,…

Speaking in a second/foreign language, especially in English, is one of the most anxiety-provoking tasks for language learners. Anxiety provoked while speaking in a second language distresses the learners and further affects their oral proficiency in English. This article focuses on investigating the presence of anxiety among (n = 86) first-year…

Speaking is a challenge for most English learners owing to the lack of practicing environments and partners. The virtual reality (VR) technology has changed this situation by providing learners with rich opportunities for practice. In VR-based practicing environments, peer tutoring is a common strategy for promoting peer assistance. However, in…

This study explores the roles and research foci of AILEd (Artificial Intelligence in Language Education). The AILEd studies published from 1990 to 2020 in the WOS (Web of Science) database were included in the present study. Based on the well-recognized Technology-based Learning Review model, several dimensions, such as research methods, research…

Intelligent personal assistants (IPAs), which are voice-activated agents enabling human--computer interaction, have recently been reported to be pedagogically useful agents in language learning. IPAs use various forms of humor to better communicate with users and to compensate for any performance limitations. In order to understand the IPAs' sense…

When encountering difficulties in conventional educational games, learners seldom self-regulate to discover and organize the learning content in the game environment. With the development of the human-computer interaction technology, computer agents are gradually being applied to educational games to provide personalized guidance or support to…

Research has revealed the positive impact of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) on L2 learners' oral development and learning attitude. These studies, however, focused mostly on the in-class use of IPAs, with existing research on the out-of-class use being exploratory. To fill the gap of lacking empirical investigations on IPA-based autonomous…

This study examines four elements of learner motivation, attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction, in an EFL speaking course that uses the computer mediated communication (CMC) tool Google Hangouts. The study found that a preparatory concept mapping task before the CMC sessions improved students' perceived attention, relevance,…