Incorporating ChatGPT into English Communication: Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University Students in Focus

Abstract

This study examines the impact of ChatGPT on the English communication skills of economics students affiliated with Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University. It explores the extent to which ChatGPT develops or decreases their communication skills. It aims to investigate the attitudes of economics students towards incorporating ChatGPT into the English communication course, their learning outcomes and challenges, and their degree of autonomous learning. For this purpose, the quantitative method investigates the impact of ChatGPT on English communication skills and level of autonomy, and the qualitative method considers the challenges. The results show that most students improved their English pronunciation, widened their vocabulary by using ChatGPT prompts in communication activities, and learned the grammatical structures to use in formal and informal settings. The affective component is further enhanced as students are motivated to improve their English with the help of this tool. However, students faced technical problems when implementing this tool for English communication. Other issues were unspecific feedback on pronunciation and inappropriate formulation of prompts, which confused students with excessively generated suggestions. The study highlights the positive impact of ChatGPT on the autonomous learning of the addressed students. It suggests the importance of training programs on prompt formulation to guarantee a compelling AI-assisted educational journey.