Abstract:

This study investigates university ESL learners’ perceptions of using voice-based chatbots to improve speaking fluency and reduce speaking anxiety at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was administered to 47 undergraduate students, collecting data on their frequency of chatbot use, preferred interaction topics, and perceived effects on speaking skills, pronunciation, anxiety, motivation, vocabulary learning, and flexible practice opportunities. Descriptive statistics showed generally positive perceptions: over half of the participants believed that voice-based chatbots improved their speaking skills and motivated them to practise more frequently, while around two-thirds reported feeling less anxious speaking with a chatbot than with a real person. Most students agreed that chatbots provided useful feedback, supported more confident pronunciation, facilitated vocabulary learning, and enabled English practice “anytime and anywhere,” although a sizeable minority selected neutral responses, indicating that benefits were not uniform across all learners. The findings suggest that voice-based chatbots can serve as a promising supplementary tool for enhancing speaking fluency and reducing anxiety in Saudi higher education, while also highlighting the need for careful pedagogical integration and further research using longitudinal and mixed-method designs to examine their impact on objective measures of oral proficiency and affective variables.

Keywords:

Voice-Based Chatbots, Speaking, Fluency, Speaking Anxiety.