Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has been widely used in the education field including foreign language learning and teaching. This study explores university students’ use of AI speech evaluation programs for their individual speaking practice regarding their learning attitudes, user experiences, and learning outcomes. The researchers selected the quantitative research method as the research tool and students from an (English as a medium of instruction) EMI university as the research respondents in this study. The results showed that the majority of respondents had positive attitudes towards using AI speech evaluation programs in their speaking practice independently. They perceived the benefits of using AI speech evaluation programs for their speaking practice in terms of its effectiveness, convenience, efficiency, and usefulness. They were more willing to practice spoken English after using AI speech evaluation programs because these AI programs can meet their personalized needs. However, respondents also raised some problems with the AI speech evaluation programs, such as the limited feedback, high costs, limited content, and inaccurate scores. The results indicated that many aspects of the current AI speech evaluation programs needed to be improved to facilitate future EFL learners’ speaking performance.