Enhancing Speaking Skills through AI Chatbot Interaction: A Qualitative Study Using Replika

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates the potential of the AI chatbot Replika in improving English speaking skills among EFL learners. Using five video-recorded speaking practices between students and the Replika agent, the study examines changes in vocabulary use, sentence structure, grammar accuracy, tense consistency, and fluency. Through thematic and comparative discourse analysis, the findings reveal a progressive enhancement across all five linguistic domains. Students demonstrated more varied vocabulary, more accurate grammar and tense usage, and improved fluency in their later conversations. These results suggest that interaction with AI chatbots like Replika offers a supportive, nonjudgmental environment conducive to oral language development. Implications for autonomous learning and AI integration in language education are discussed.