Improving Students' Linguistic Competence through Chatbots

This study explores chatbots' influence on English linguistic competence and examines students' experiences with chatbots for language development in an educational institution in the UAE. For data collection, the researcher used semi-structured interviews with 30 participants (13 males and 12 females) from different linguistic backgrounds. The findings reveal that chatbots enhance language skills by offering unlimited practice in a judgment-free setting. Further, chatbots give flexible learning schedules that fit UAE cultural contexts and provide personalized feedback. However, students emphasized that chatbots cannot replace human teachers due to limited emotional connection, cultural understanding, and advanced language guidance. Students preferred an approach where chatbots handle practice, basic skills, and assessment while teachers provided cultural context and complex instruction. The study suggests that educational institutions should integrate chatbots as supplementary tools alongside teacher-led instruction. Future research should address how to develop culturally relevant chatbots for UAE contexts. This study contributes to understanding effective technology integration in language education by highlighting both the benefits and limitations of chatbot implementation.