Speakers
Description
In the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, integrating artificial intelligence, particularly ChatGPT, into English teaching and learning has become more crucial than ever. For first-year English-major students, speaking is considered as one of the most challenging skills, and Personalized ChatGPT, functioning as a 24/7 virtual tutor, provides a useful interactive environment for speaking practice. This study investigates students’ perceptions of using personalized ChatGPT outside the classroom to improve English speaking skills among first-year English majors at a university in Central Vietnam. It focuses on students’ attitudes toward their application of personalised ChatGPT, their evaluations of its effectiveness on their speaking performance, and the challenges they encountered. A descriptive mixed-method design was employed with 112 first-year English majors over eight weeks at a university in Central Vietnam. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a questionnaire consisting of Likert-scale and open-ended questions. The findings revealed generally positive perceptions of personalized ChatGPT. Students considered it a useful tool for speaking practice and showed willingness to continue using it beyond the course. They reported improvements in vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency, and confidence. Qualitative data also showed that many students felt less afraid of making mistakes, more confident speaking, and more fluent thanks to regular practice and instant feedback. However, students still faced challenges with unclear and general feedback, off-topic responses, and limited natural interaction when using personalized ChatGPT for speaking practice. The findings are expected to contribute to AI-assisted language learning research and support more effective speaking instruction at tertiary level.
Biography
Tuyen Ngoc Tran is a lecturer at the Department of Foreign Languages, Quy Nhon University. Her works focus on innovative approaches to teaching and learning English as a foreign language, such as technology-enhanced and project-based methods. She has experience teaching integrated English skills and presentation skills to English-majored students, with a particular focus on English for Specific Purposes (ESP).
Phung Tien Nguyen has been working as a senior lecturer of English and Linguistics at Quy Nhon University, Gia Lai Province, Vietnam for twenty-eight years. He got a Master degree in English Linguistics from College of Foreign Languages, VNU, Hanoi in 2003 and a PhD degree in Educational Linguistics from Australian Catholic University in 2021. His research interest is Multimodality, Appraisal and application of Systemic Functional Linguistics in the context of TESOL/TEFL in Vietnam. His most recent work is the book chapter published with Routledge in 2025 in Multiliteracies, Multimodality and Learning by Design in Second Language Learning and Teacher Education, which is co-authored with Len Unsworth from Australian Catholic University and Thu Ngo from The University of New South Wales.
From 2022, Ms. Le Ha Cam Tien serves as an English lecturer at Quy Nhon University. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English Language Teaching and a Master of Arts in English Language from the same institution, Quy Nhon University. Her responsibilities encompass teaching the blended EAP and EOP program designed for students majoring in English. Her professional interests lie in areas such as material development, the integration of ICT in education, English for Occupational Purposes (EOP), and blended learning methodologies.
| Affiliate type | University |
|---|