A qualitative exploration of student perspectives of chatbot use during emergency remote teaching

In this study, a chatbot was developed using Dialogflow Messenger to support learning during face-to-face class suspension due to COVID-19. The pandemic has changed how students and teachers engage with course content and use technologies. By working with the chatbot, language for specific purposes students received guidance and support to complete homework and assignments during the face-to-face class suspension. Twenty-two (22) students participated in this interpretive qualitative study, and data were collected using focus group interviews and analysed thematically. The findings indicate that students found the pedagogical chatbot supportive by providing human-like interactions, which enhanced their sense of engagement. Participants also indicated that their interactions with the chatbot eased their sense of isolation, which had a positive impact on their learning. The findings provide insight and enrich existing knowledge for integrating chatbots into teaching and they discuss the advantages of learning future chatbot design for language acquisition. Copyright © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.