An Investigation into Students' Perception of Using Call Annie as a Virtual Conversational Partner

There is no doubt that using AI tools to learn a foreign language has become more common in recent years. This study aims to explore students’ perception of using Call Annie – an AI-powered tool – to practice speaking regularly, as part of their homework to find out their perceived advantages and disadvantages after conversing with the application. This research project employed 85 English majors at a university for the investigation, in which both quantitative and qualitative data were collected via questionnaires and interviews to observe their interactions with the Call Annie chatbot for homework assignments as conversational partners for three weeks. After the period, students were given surveys to record their perception, and after their final speaking test, a focus group interview was held with 3 students. Findings show students’ willingness and confidence to utilize Call Annie in the future for their speaking skills, as well as their positive attitudes. However, the data also shows that students were worried about using the tool due to concerns about authenticity and language content. In the future, AI chatbots may be used as conversational partners, which could enable teachers to take more active roles in individualized approaches to teaching speaking.