In the prevailing era of AI and or related highly intelligent robots, education has been modernized to follow suit, evidenced by the application of chatbots in teaching foreign languages. Young learners can choose to either communicate in English with a chatbot or a human being, especially an experienced instructor. Personally speaking, I would prefer to practice in English with a human being because of subsequent arguments, despite ackowledging why conversing with chatbots generates notable benefits.
On the one hand, having conversations in English with human being is more beneficial in the long run. To elaborate, because speaking assessment involves various elements, namely pronunciation, coherence, cohesion, fluency and intonation, distictive elements can only be approriately determined and assessed by a human being. Despite being competitive at marking content and pronunciation, chatbot is unable to precisely determine innotation and the confidence embedded in the speech, which is totally the strength of an instructor. Furthermore, emotional support within the learning process is transferred to the speakers. Devoting absolute focus to the speakers or expressing signals of acceptance like nodding promotes speakers’ confidence in showcasing their ideas. This so-called emotional support is utterly invaluable in a effective learning path.
On the other hand, some merits associated with applying chatbots in learning languages reflects the up-to-date style in several regions such as Europe or America. The first benefit relates to the convenience brought by learning with chatbots. While time organization might be an enormous blockade regarding learning with instructors, chatbots are accessible at any time or places. This enables learners, especially working ones, to improve speaking skill without sacrificing any work or household missions. Secondly, the fee paid to chatbots to get premium feedback is within general financial budget, facilitating the improved access to learn new knowledge. While being enlightened by a human being, yet effective and emotionally suitable, is admitted to be a financial hurdle, being accopanied by a chatbot is a more cost-effective choice for middle- or low-income learners.
To encapsulate, I would prefer to improve personal speaking skill with a human being to a chatbot given aforementioned reasons. However, it is undeniable that incorporating robots in educational methodologies is an inevitable trend.