Willingness to communicate with AI chatbots in English: the role of personality and trust among Chinese college students

In the context of AI-assisted language learning, understanding learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) with AI chatbots has become increasingly important. This study investigates how the Big Five personality traits and trust in AI chatbots influence Chinese college students' WTC in spoken English. A total of 221 participants completed a structured questionnaire, and the proposed model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that trust in AI chatbots significantly predicts learners' WTC. Among the personality traits, openness to experience directly influences WTC and also indirectly affects it through trust. Additionally, agreeableness and openness are positively associated with trust, whereas extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism do not show significant effects. These results suggest that AI chatbots may be particularly beneficial for learners with communication-inhibiting personality characteristics, such as introversion or anxiety, by providing a psychologically safe and low-pressure environment for oral language practice. This study shows that personality traits such as extraversion and neuroticism do not exert a significant influence on WTC when interacting with AI. Accordingly, it can be inferred that learners who are highly introverted or prone to anxiety may, to some extent, avoid the negative impact of these personality limitations by using AI for foreign language learning.