Development of a Chatbot and Evaluation of Its Effects on Learning and Intrinsic Motivation of a Public Secondary School's Spanish Language Learners

Abstract

This study developed and evaluated a Messenger-based chatbot designed to enhance learning and intrinsic motivation among Spanish language learners at a public secondary school. Using the pretest-posttest design, the study involved 28 students who were assessed on their Spanish language skills and motivational levels before and after interacting with the chatbot. Descriptive and inferential statistics revealed a statistically significant improvement in academic performance, affirming the chatbot's effectiveness as an educational tool. While the paired samples t-test did not show a statistically significant increase in intrinsic motivation, the Repeated Measures ANOVA did reveal a significant effect, suggesting that the chatbot had a meaningful impact on motivation when considering changes over time. Spearman's rho correlation analyses indicated no strong relationship between post-intervention intrinsic motivation and learning outcomes. Additionally, linear regression analysis showed that pretest grades were a strong predictor of posttest grades, whereas pre-intervention intrinsic motivation did not significantly predict posttest grades. These findings suggest that while chatbots can effectively enhance language proficiency, their influence on intrinsic motivation is more complex and requires further investigation.