Abstract:Learning another language can be a highly emotional process, typically characterized by numerous frustrations and triumphs, big and small. For most learners, language learning does not follow a linear, predictable path, its zigzag course shaped by motivational (or demotivating) variables such as personal characteristics, teacher/peer relationships, learning materials, and dreams of a future L2 (second language) self. While some aspects of language learning (reading, grammar) are relatively mechanical, others can be stressful and unpredictable, especially conversing in the target language. That experience necessitates not only knowledge of structure and lexis, but also the ability to use the language in ways that are appropriate to the social and cultural context. A new opportunity to practice conversational abilities has arrived through the availability of AI chatbots, with both advantages (responsive, non-judgmental) and drawbacks (emotionally void, culturally biased). This column explores aspects of emotion as they arise in technology use and in particular how automatic emotion recognition and simulated human responsiveness in AI systems interface with language learning and the development of pragmatic and interactional competence. Emotion AI, the algorithmically driven interpretation of users' affective signals, has been seen as enabling greater personalized learning, adapting to perceived learner cognitive and emotional states. Others warn of emotional manipulation and inappropriate and ineffective user profiling
| Subjects: | Computers and Society (cs.CY); Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI); Computation and Language (cs.CL) |
| Cite as: | arXiv:2603.20479 [cs.CY] |
| (or arXiv:2603.20479v2 [cs.CY] for this version) | |
| https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.20479 arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite |
|
| Journal reference: | Language Learning & Technology, 30(2), 14-35 (2026) |
| Related DOI: | https://doi.org/10.64152/10125/73679
DOI(s) linking to related resources |
From: Robert Godwin-Jones [view email]
[v1]
Fri, 20 Mar 2026 20:22:54 UTC (446 KB)
[v2]
Sat, 23 May 2026 16:03:59 UTC (445 KB)
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理，仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。