Technology for the Language Teacher
Chatbots
Jang Ho Lee, Hyejin Yang, Dongkwang Shin, and Heyoung Kim
In this series, we explore technology-related themes and topics. This series aims to discuss and demystify what may be new areas for some readers and to consider their relevance for English language teachers.
Chatbot technology has gained a considerable amount of attention and popularity in a wide range of fields, including ELT. Chatbot research in ELT literature has discussed how chatbots could make learners feel more comfortable in English conversation than human interlocutors and also provide appropriate linguistic input (Fryer and Carpenter 2006), stimulate their interest in English learning (Fryer, Ainley, Thompson, Gibson, and Sherlock 2017; Gallacher, Thompson, and Howarth 2018), and contribute to their linguistic growth (Jia and Ruan 2008; Kim 2019). Despite growing interest among the research community, chatbots still appear to be a relatively rare technology among ELT professionals, including teachers and educators. Thus, the present article aims at providing an accessible introduction to this powerful resource for language teachers. It will introduce different types of chatbots, propose criteria for evaluating their appropriateness for ELT purposes, and present concrete examples of chatbot-based activities for language teachers. It concludes by calling for more empirical research on chatbots from the ELT community and by encouraging language teachers to take an interest in this technology.
Jang Ho Lee, Hyejin Yang, Dongkwang Shin, Heyoung Kim, Chatbots, ELT Journal, 74(3), 338-344. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaa035