The impact of intelligent personal assistants on Mandarin second language learners: interaction process, acquisition of listening and speaking ability

Abstract

Intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) are becoming increasingly interactive, convenient and intelligent, and their potential for improving second language skills has been proven by many studies. However, these studies have mainly concentrated on secondary and higher education groups, and little is known about the use of IPAs by second language learners in a sensitive period. Moreover, few studies have analyzed learners’ discourse and behavior. In this study, an intelligent personal assistant called MSLIPA is introduced, and 44 Mandarin second language learners in the second grade of elementary school are recruited and randomly assigned into an experimental group (communicated with MSLIPA) and a control group (communicated with their peers). Both groups completed five Mandarin exchange classes. The researchers explored the impact of IPA on second language learners from two aspects: the interaction process and the acquisition of listening and speaking ability. The results show that learners engage in more rounds of dialog and use more interaction strategies when interacting with IPAs than with their peers; through the LDA analysis of the text data, it is found that the communication topics between the learners and the IPA are rich; conversations with IPAs can significantly improve learners’ listening and speaking ability, but there is no significant difference in the improvement brought about by conversations with peers. These findings indicate that the IPA has potential in Mandarin second language learning in the sensitive period, but longer-term research on technology implementation and strategy application is needed.