Hey, GPT, Can We Have a Chat?: A Case Study on EFL Learners’ AI Speaking Practice

In an era of major advances in the digital world, artificial intelligence has been a part of programs, tools, applications, and platforms. It has also been integrated into fields of education including language teaching and learning. To this end, ChatGPT, one of the most recent AI-driven systems, has been proposed to support language learners’ personalized studies. Thus, this paper presents a qualitative study aiming to explore how Turkish EFL learners in higher education use ChatGPT for speaking. For a deeper understanding, the study was designed as a case study which used multiple sources to collect qualitative data. In this sense, semi-structured interviews were held with the participants, and through open-ended questions, they were asked about their study habits and any background knowledge about ChatGPT. In a following session, they were introduced the chatbot and instructed on possible ways to use it for speaking practice. Screen recordings of the usage by the participants were another source to observe and later describe the process for the researcher. A final session of the interviews planned as a stimulated recall was held to explore the participants’ ChatGPT use experience through their reflection. The thematic analysis of the data revealed codes and themes leading to language teaching implications about learner characteristics and use of AI for language studies.