CHATGPT AS A LANGUAGE TRAINER FOR ENHANCING THE INTERACTION SKILLS OF GERMAN LEARNERS IN JAPAN

This study explores the usefulness of ChatGPT for improving L2 German learners' communicative skills and for raising awareness of the evolving literacy demands associated with AI use.Participants were B1-level students at a Japanese university who completed six communicative tasks with ChatGPT based on scenarios from their textbook, including a shopping conversation, a private dinner invitation, and a job interview.The tasks were designed to allow learners to apply expressions introduced in the textbook.To support task completion, students received step-by-step instructions as well as prompts specifying the situation and for resolving linguistic difficulties and obtaining feedback on their output.The tasks were completed as homework.Data consisted of transcripts of student-ChatGPT interactions and a post-task survey including Likert-scale and open-ended items.Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, and qualitative content analysis was applied to open-ended responses.The study addressed three research questions: what difficulties students encounter when completing communicative ChatGPT tasks as homework, how useful they perceive such tasks for learning German, and how the tasks could be improved to complement textbook-based instruction.Results indicate that students generally enjoyed using AI and valued the opportunity to practice interactions and review information at their own pace.They perceived the tasks as helpful for receiving feedback, improving reading and writing skills, and reinforcing vocabulary and grammar.However, the study also revealed misunderstandings and uncertainty about the accuracy of AI-generated information.These findings highlight the importance of providing learners with adequate linguistic and technical support when integrating AI into homework assignments.