Using chatbots to scaffold EFL students’ argumentative writing

Research suggests that English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ argumentative writing benefits from interactions with peers. However, finding an ideal partner to interact with can be difficult in practice, and chatbots have been suggested as a potential solution to this problem. Chatbots are a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Assessing writing Vol. 54; p. 100666
Main Authors: Guo, Kai, Wang, Jian, Chu, Samuel Kai Wah
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Inc 01.10.2022
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ISSN:1075-2935, 1873-5916
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Research suggests that English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ argumentative writing benefits from interactions with peers. However, finding an ideal partner to interact with can be difficult in practice, and chatbots have been suggested as a potential solution to this problem. Chatbots are a form of artificial intelligence (AI) designed to engage in turn-by-turn conversations with human users. In this paper, we propose a chatbot-assisted approach to the teaching and learning of argumentative writing. We describe Argumate, a novel chatbot system that we developed to scaffold students’ argument construction, and we discuss the advantages and limitations of using this system to assist students in producing high-quality argumentative writing. •Integration of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots into writing classrooms.•Proposal of a chatbot-assisted approach to argumentative writing.•Design and development of a chatbot system named Argumate.•Argumate can help with students’ idea generation and counterargument integration.
ISSN:1075-2935
1873-5916
DOI:10.1016/j.asw.2022.100666