AI 챗봇을 활용한 초등영어 과정중심 말하기 평가

Process-oriented speaking assessment of primary English using AI chatbots: Possibilities and limitations

The present study aims to explore the possibilities and limitations of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots in elementary schools in the context of process-oriented assessment, which is one of the main features of 2015 revised English curriculum. The researcher has developed an AI chatbot and implemented a speaking performance test using it for 3rd graders in an elementary school in Seoul. The results first show that a specific function of the AI chatbot which can track students utterances during the speaking test must be a strong point in process-oriented assessment. It provides teachers with very useful information about students speaking processes as well as performances, which could further be used to help improve students’ English proficiency. Second, the results of a survey indicate that students are generally fond of interacting with AI chatbots and that their interests in chatbots may motivate willingness to speak in English. However, the results also show some limitations of using AI chatbots in classroom. Despite the breakthrough in AI technology, AI chatbots still have technical problems that may severely harm feasibility of using chatbots in process-oriented assessment, e.g. low accuracy rate of voice recognition. There is also an issue of validity and reliability of the AI chatbot-based speaking test that should be endorsed by future research. It is expected that AI chatbots should be cautiously applied in process-oriented assessment towards making full use of the state-of-the-art AI technology.