Effectiveness of brief prompting instruction in AI-assisted communicative practice in foreign language classes

The case study, conducted in September 2024, investigates the impact of prompting instruction on the communicative skills of Czech learners of English. The main goal of the experiment was to see how pre-taught pragmatics-based prompting strategies affect human-chatbot interaction efficiency. The findings show that brief instruction in prompting significantly improves task completion, reduces misunderstandings and turn-taking, and enhances communicative outcomes, especially in complex tasks (such as synthesis, analysis, and emotional response). However, the study also evidences learners’ dissatisfaction when comparing chatbot to human interaction, citing a lack of shared context, cooperation, and non-verbal cues.