Conversational agents for learning foreign languages -- a survey
This is an incremental survey addressing the problem of limited conversational practice for language learners.
The paper surveys conversational agents for foreign language learning, analyzing existing approaches and identifying major challenges for future work, as current research focuses on comprehensibility and user motivation.
Conversational practice, while crucial for all language learners, can be challenging to get enough of and very expensive. Chatbots are computer programs developed to engage in conversations with humans. They are designed as software avatars with limited, but growing conversational capability. The most natural and potentially powerful application of chatbots is in line with their fundamental nature - language practice. However, their role and outcomes within (in)formal language learning are currently tangential at best. Existing research in the area has generally focused on chatbots' comprehensibility and the motivation they inspire in their users. In this paper, we provide an overview of the chatbots for learning languages, critically analyze existing approaches, and discuss the major challenges for future work.