APPLICATION OF AI CHATBOTS IN DOCTORAL STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING

Abstract

In the realm of digitalization, neural networks are increasingly infiltrating various aspects of life, including higher education. A disparity exists between the demands of society for the integration of neural networks to doctoral students’ education and the lack of AI methodologies for teaching foreign lan-guages to doctoral students. This situation underscores the necessity for the development of a complex of AI chatbots aimed at teaching English to doctoral students. The objective of this study was to evaluate the implementation of a complex of AI chatbots within the educational framework, focusing on English language instruction for doctoral students at South Ural State University. The following objectives were set: to analyze the term “AI chatbots”; to assess doctoral students' familiarity with AI tools in education; to evaluate the effectiveness of AI tools in foreign language instruction for doctoral students; to explore educators' perspectives on the use of AI tools for language training; to pilot a complex of AI chatbots in English tea¬ching for doctoral students. Both theoretical methods (analysis of relevant scientific and methodological literature) and empirical methods (a questionnaire, interview, and Cronbach's alpha) were employed. The study involved 30 doctoral students and 26 ESL lecturers. The results showed that while a majority of doctoral students were aware of certain AI technologies, they lacked knowledge regarding the application of AI technologies in education context. Conversely, educators were aware of different kinds of AI chatbots but struggled to utilize them effectively due to insufficient understanding of how to create prompts for AI chatbots and a lack of time to familiarize themselves with new AI tools. The research findings can assist educators and language training professionals in enhancing English language instruction for doctoral students.