AI Chatbots and Musical Intelligence as Pedagogical Tools: Enhancing English Speaking and Listening Skills in Higher Education

Abstract

In today's competitive educational environment in India, English is a key factor in a student's success in their professional career, but many colleges or universities are unable to offer them real-life, individual speaking practice. This research aims to explore the synergistic effect of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences (TMI), which consists of musical-rhythmic intelligence, towards the improvement of speaking and listening skills of university students using an AI Chatbot. This study explores the possibilities of combining rhythmic and tonal aspects of music with the adaptive and interactive capabilities of generative AI to address some of the pedagogical challenges and to foster intrinsic motivation. The study was qualitative, involving 15 students who were interviewed using a semi-structured approach to obtain an understanding of the experiences they had with these digital and musical tools. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data to identify patterns in skill acquisition, engagement, and emotional resilience. The findings indicate that by implementing music activities and effective filter lowering using AI chatbots, the learning atmosphere is low-anxiety and immersive, facilitating students to feel comfortable taking language risks. There were significant improvements in listening skills reported, and the use of chatbots offered a patient practice partner for listening in context and fluency. Besides, the music and activities related to rhythm learned from AI improved pronunciation and oral communication. The findings also highlight the need for overcoming multiple challenges, including the danger of over-automation, the emergence of “imposter syndrome” with AI, and the digital divide. The study finds that such emerging technologies are transformative, but there should be a balance in pedagogical approaches that would run on human mentorship, digital literacy, and human-centric communication that would result in the successful and ethical implementation.