The Effect of AI Chatbot-Based Tourism English Instruction on Intercultural Communicative Competence

Abstract

The present study aimed at investigating AI chatbot-based Tourism English instruction for college students to develop their intercultural communicative competence. For the study, two distinctive models of AI based educational approach were proposed; learning with AI (LWAI) and learning about AI (LAAI). A total of 50 Tourism English 3 learners with the model of LWAI were assigned to conduct a conversation with the chatbot during the semester, while 20 Tourism English 6 learners with the model of LAAI were asked to build a hotel English chatbot. In LWAI, the collected chatbot conversation reports were analyzed in terms of task completion rates. It was found that the chatbot conversations mostly involved small talk rather than problem-solving tasks. In LAAI, Tourism English learners collected English for hotel reservations and coded data into the hotel English chatbot with the help of computer engineering students. As a result of a team project, the hotel English chatbot building was successful. Lastly, there was an increase in participants’ intercultural communicative competence in terms of respect for cultural differences and interaction attentiveness. In short, the present study showed that the AI chatbot-based Tourism English instruction had a positive effect on the development of intercultural communicative competence.