Chinese language teaching facilitated by anthropomorphised technologies: Using chatbots as smart teaching assistants

Amid growing interest in chatbot integration in language education, there is a lack of research on chatbot use within situated teaching contexts, particularly from the perspective of foreign language teachers who are not technology enthusiasts but are shaped by this technological shift. This study attempts to go beyond the technology-driven tendency that is prevalent in research on computer-assisted language learning by exploring language teachers’ interaction with anthropomorphised technologies. By acknowledging that technologies may also possess agency, this study expects further collaboration between language teachers and technologies. In this regard, the present study investigates teachers’ perceptions and engagement with chatbots, aiming to uncover language teachers’ attitudes towards and current status of chatbot use, as well as potential collaborative relationships between teachers and chatbots. This study adopts a qualitative method to analyse the data collected from two sources: a survey and two contextualised cases, which aim to provide a two-layer lens on chatbot use in language education. The survey captures Chinese language teachers’ perspectives in comparison with the broader international language education community. The cases contextualise two distinct implementations: a self-designed chatbot for digital communication practice and a Generative AI chatbot for providing writing feedback. The survey findings reveal a solid foundation for chatbot integration, as language teachers generally expressed a positive attitude toward this technology. However, this positive attitude did not directly translate into practical chatbot implementation. Three primary obstacles are identified: (1) limited teachers’ knowledge of chatbots, (2) the perceived incompatibility of using chatbots for language education, and (3) concerns about cost-effectiveness. Meanwhile, the analysis of the contextualised cases revealed insightful understandings of teacher-chatbot collaboration through the roles that teachers assigned to themselves and the technology. A re-emergence of traditional teachers’ roles, such as authorities, has been identified under the prevalence of student-centred teaching beliefs. Meanwhile, a teacher-technology augmentation framework is adopted to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of teachers and chatbots, as well as reveal their potential collaborative patterns. This study aims to contribute some forward-thinking perspectives into language education facilitated by anthropomorphised technologies.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Applied Linguistics

Grantor dc:publisher

ResearchSpace@Auckland

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Lin, Jiajia

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Wang, Danping
• Buckingham, Louisa

• Computer-assisted language learning
• Learning Chinese as a foreign language
• Language teacher perspectives
• Anthropomorphised technologies
• Chatbots

Statement dc:rights

• Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2292/74764

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/74764