Spanish language learning in the AI era: AI as a scaffolding tool

Abstract This study investigated how ten Chinese university students interacted with ChatGPT to facilitate their acquisition of Spanish as a second language. In a semi-informal educational setting, 370 ChatGPT prompts authored by the students and the AI-generated responses they yielded were collected over the course of one week. Secondary data sources included questionnaires and learning diaries. Findings revealed that students primarily sought assistance from ChatGPT with vocabulary acquisition, reading comprehension, and written expression, with fewer prompts focused on grammar or oral communication. The prompts showed significant variation in length, language preference, and pattern, though only a small portion involved more than a single prompt-response interaction. This trend suggests a largely task-oriented use of ChatGPT, with limited reflective engagement. This study points to the teacher ↔ AI ↔ learner relationship as a new dimension of interaction and offers practical recommendations for educators in AI-assisted language learning. Key suggestions include fostering students’ self-directed learning abilities and encouraging more reflective and systematic learning approaches.