# Using Chatbots as AI Conversational Partners in Language Learning
## 4 Context, Method and Materials
### Materials and Procedure  
In this one-month project, a learning module entitled 'The integration of AI and chatbots in language learning' was specifically designed on Moodle for both groups. This module included a short introduction to the topic and several materials (three videos and an article about chatbots in language learning) that all participants had to watch and read during the first week of the project, and they also had to complete a questionnaire based on the materials. The module contained a template analysis (TA) including links to the three chatbots and detailed instructions about the human-chatbot interaction, which is described in the following section (instruments). The participants were instructed to interact with the three conversational agents as future educators and not as English language learners. Therefore, they should carefully follow the instructions provided in the TA (use different registers, sentence structures, intentional mistakes, irony, etc.). This out-of-class interaction should take place over the four-week period on a regular basis. To ensure this regularity, the participants needed to take notes during their interaction together with 10 screenshots with the corresponding date as part of the template analysis (TA), which they needed to submit during the final week. The research comprised four stages as shown in Figure 1.  
Three conversational AI were employed. The first one named Kuki, originally Mitsuku and available on www.kuki.ai, was created by Pandorabots in 2005 in the UK. This chatbot has been awarded several Loebner prizes (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) and uses the Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity database. It is linked to Twitch, Telegram, Facebook, Kik and Discord and it can also be found on Youtube and the Roblox game. Kuki uses an avatar featuring an 18-year-old female from Leeds (UK). It offers some special features such as the option to arrange video calls.  
The second chatbot named Replika and available on replika.com was created by the startup Luka in San Francisco (USA) in 2017. This bot has an innovative design as users need to customize their own avatar when they first create their Replika account. Therefore, the participants could personalize their avatars among a range of options (gender, hairstyle, outfit, etc.). Replika gets feedback from conversation with the users as well as access to social networks if permission is granted, so the more the users talk to the bot the more it learns from them, and the more human it looks. The bot has memory, keeps a diary and the users can gain more experience to reach different levels (scalable). As a special feature, it includes an augmented-reality-based option, so participants can launch the AR-based avatar to chat with the Replika.  
The third chatbot called Wysa and available on www.wysa.io was created by the startup Touchkin eServices in Bangalore (India) in 2016. This is a specialized type of program as it is an AI-based emotionally intelligent bot that uses evidence-based cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBTs) for wellbeing purposes. It works as a psychotherapist and the avatar is a pocket penguin that functions as a well-being coach. This chatbot can recognize over 70 different emotion subtypes (boredom, anxiety, sadness, anger, depression, etc.). Wysa is used by some healthcare companies and organizations around the world, such as the National Health Service (UK), Aetna and Accenture. Figure 2 illustrates three examples of chatbot interaction as provided by the teacher candidates.  
Figure 1: Research stages.  
Figure 2: Screenshots of the interaction with the three conversational agents (from left to right: [PERSON], [PERSON], Wysa).