USING A MULTILINGUAL CHATBOT FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE PRACTICE

Abstract

Chatbots, or conversational agents, are computer programs that emulate the way people talk to each other, providing a more natural user interface. Students learning a foreign language might benefit from using the systems to practice their skills. In this study, we asked 49 students to evaluate transcripts of conversations with a multilingual chatbot to assess the accuracy of translations and appropriateness of replies. Results show that translations and responses were generally very good. Students gave poor ratings for only four of 24 responses, and the vast majority thought the system would help with acquiring a new language.