Chatbots for language learning—Are they really useful? A systematic review of chatbot-supported language learning

The use of chatbots as learning assistants is receiving increasing attention in language learning due to their ability to converse with students using natural language. Previous reviews mainly focused on only one or two narrow aspects of chatbot use in language learning. This review goes beyond merely reporting the specific types of chatbot employed in past empirical studies and examines the usefulness of chatbots in language learning, including first language learning, second language learning, and foreign language learning. We conducted a systematic search and identified 25 empirical studies, using the inductive grounded approach to identify the technological and pedagogical affordances and the challenges of using chatbots, and Garrison's social presence framework to analyze the social affordances.

Our findings revealed three technological affordances —timeliness, ease of use, and personalization— and five pedagogical uses: as interlocutors, as simulations, for transmission, as helplines, and for recommendations. Chatbots appeared to encourage students' social presence by affective, open, and coherent communication. Several challenges were identified: technological limitations, the novelty effect, and cognitive load. A set of rudimentary design principles for chatbots are proposed.