# Using Chatbots as AI Conversational Partners in Language Learning
###### Abstract  
Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning have paved the way for the increasing adoption of chatbots in language learning. Research published to date has mostly focused on chatbot accuracy and chatbot-human communication from students' or in-service teachers' perspectives. This study aims to examine the knowledge, level of satisfaction and perceptions concerning the integration of conversational AI in language learning among future educators. In this mixed method research based on convenience sampling, 176 undergraduates from two educational settings, Spain (\(n=115\)) and Poland (\(n=61\)), interacted autonomously with three conversational agents (Replika, Kuki, Wysa) over a four-week period. A learning module about Artificial Intelligence and language learning was specifically designed for this research, including an ad hoc model named the Chatbot-Human Interaction Satisfaction Model (CHISM), which was used by teacher candidates to evaluate different linguistic and technological features of the three conversational agents. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a pre-post-survey based on the CHISM and the TAM2 (technology acceptance) models and a template analysis (TA), and analyzed through IBM SPSS 22 and QDA Miner software. The analysis yielded positive results regarding perceptions concerning the integration of conversational agents in language learning, particularly in relation to perceived ease of use (PeU) and attitudes (AT), but the scores for behavioral intention (BI) were more moderate. The findings also unveiled some gender-related differences regarding participants' satisfaction with chatbot design and topics of interaction. chatbots; intelligent conversational agents; language learning; pre-service teachers; perceptions and satisfaction +
Footnote †: journal: _Sci. social networks (Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Twitter). In fact, there are virtually very few areas where chatbots are still not or will not be present in some form in the near future. As [PERSON] et al. [7] pointed out:  
'During their first three decades, chatbots grew from exploratory software, to the broad cast of potential friends, guides and merchants that now populate the internet. Across the two decades that followed this initial growth, advances in text-to-speech-to-text and the growing use of smartphones and home assistants have made chatbots a part of many users' day-to-day lives'. (p. 17)  
The term chatbot can be misleading as it may refer to a wide variety of programs used in different formats and with different purposes. Generically, a chatbot could be defined as a computer program based on AI that simulates human conversation via a textual and/or auditory method. However, there are different chatbot-related concepts used nowadays which do not have the same meaning: chatter bot, smart bot, educabot, quizbot, digital assistant, personal assistant, virtual tutor, conversational agent, etc. [8]. Broadly speaking, chatbots could be classified depending on the criteria shown in Table 1.  
Conversational AI, also known as conversational agents, can be described as smart software programs that learn through communication like humans; they originally gave standardized answers to typical questions but later evolved into more sophisticated programs thanks to Natural Language Understanding (NLU), neural networks and deep-learning technologies. They constitute an advanced dialog system which simulates conversation in writing and/or speech with human users, typically over the Internet. They can be text-based and/or read from and respond with speech, graphics, virtual gestures or haptic-assisted physical gestures. Additionally, some of them have been trained to perform certain tasks, also known as IPAs (Intelligent Personal Assistants), for example IBM Watson, Apple Siri, Samsung Bixby and Amazon Alexa [9].