Keyword: «conversational agents»

Over the past three decades, the relevance and prospects of using chatbots in foreign languages learning have increased significantly, having turned this topic into one of the most debated among researchers, developers of artificial intelligence, students and teachers. A lot of work is done by a teacher to recreate the language environment in the classroom – there are effective methods of pair and group work, didactic materials aimed at intensifying the development of language skills. The studies conducted so far give a fairly complete picture of the sociolinguistic, didactic, psychological aspects of chatbots in language education, reveal their cognitive potential. Online chatbots can become a means of language practice for the learner in any convenient situation, given that they are compatible with any operating system of smartphones, tablets, laptops. In the last decade, chatbots have been increasingly used as aides in language learning due to their easy adaptability to specific requests (for example, aspect study – vocabulary, grammar, speaking and writing), for solving complex tasks – the study of an entire topic with all didactic units, and linguistic flexibility – the study of the first, the second or subsequent language. This article aims to show not only the positive impact of artificial intelligence on the effectiveness of a foreign language learning, but also to point out the positions insufficiently developed by the creators of chatbots. Another goal is to find out whether chatbots with artificial intelligence are equally effective in studying different didactic units of a language, to identify possible pedagogical, social and technological opportunities provided by chatbots. Comparative analysis of the chatbots use in the student’s and teacher’s environment, opportunities and obstacles for the chatbots implementation in language teaching were used as research methods. As a result of the study, the experience of domestic and foreign researchers regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using chatbots in language education is analyzed. The article discusses the aspect of psychological readiness for communication among trainees (based on the theory of social presence) and how chatbots help or complicate this process. The article may be of practical interest to researchers of this issue.