A Study of the Effectiveness of English Speaking of Teachable Agent using AI Chatbot

Abstract

In an environment where English is a foreign language (English as a foreign language: EFL), English learners use AI voice chatbots for English-speaking practice activities. They enhance their speaking motivation and provide opportunities for communication practice, ultimately leading to English language learning. It can improve their speaking skills. However, if they are preschoolers or elementary school students with no experience learning English, a conversation may not be possible using the AI voice chatbot system. In this study, we propose a teachable agent using an AI voice chatbot that can be easily used even for elementary school students and can enhance the learning effect. The existing Teachable Agent is a method that makes inferences with the knowledge acquired from the learner and answers questions using a path search algorithm. However, applying the Teachable Agent system to language learning is complex, an activity based on tense, context, and memory. This paper proposed a new TA method by reflecting the learner's English pronunciation and level to the teachable agent and generating the agent's answer according to the learner's error. Moreover, a teachable Agent AI chatbot prototype was implemented with an AI voice chatbot.