In recent years, artificial intelligence-supported smart technologies have profoundly impacted teaching. This impact has an even more transformative effect on the education of new generations familiar with artificial intelligence. The impact of artificial intelligence on teaching holds the potential to solve the foreign language learning problem in the Turkish education system. This potential is crucial for solving the cognitive and affective problems experienced in teaching English, which carries significant weight as a foreign language in the Turkish education system, and especially in teaching speaking skills. This is because the fear of making mistakes, anxiety about being evaluated, and low self-confidence levels, which are common among students in Turkish culture, are among the key factors limiting participation in speaking activities in foreign language teaching (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986). This situation reduces the effectiveness of English speaking instruction and negatively affects the development of oral production skills. The integration of artificial intelligence-based digital tools such as chatbots into English teaching has the potential to offer alternative and innovative solutions to these problems.

 Chatbots, as artificial intelligence-based tools that can interact with learners in real time through natural language processing and large language models, are increasingly being used in language learning processes. The literature reports that chatbot-supported applications have a moderate to high impact on English speaking skills and support sub-skills such as fluency, accuracy, and vocabulary use (Ding et al., 2025; Han et al., 2020). Furthermore, it is emphasised that the low-risk and non-judgmental interaction environments offered by chatbots are effective in reducing students' speaking anxiety. It is noted that the use of chatbots, particularly in preparatory and rehearsal-type speaking activities, encourages students to participate more willingly in oral production (Khalik et al., 2025).

 However, the majority of existing studies have been conducted at university level or with adult learners; empirical studies conducted in the context of secondary school English preparatory classes have been limited. Current research conducted in the Turkish context has mainly examined students' attitudes towards chatbots, with limited consideration of their direct effects on learning outcomes (Özcan, 2025). This situation necessitates a more detailed examination of the effects of chatbot-supported conversation teaching at the secondary school level.

 The aim of this study is to examine the effect of chatbot-supported conversation teaching on the speaking skills and English speaking anxiety of secondary school English preparatory class students. The research approaches chatbot use not merely as a technological innovation but as a structured pedagogical intervention guided by teachers. In this respect, the study aims to fill an important gap in the literature regarding the role of artificial intelligence-supported applications in English as a foreign language teaching on cognitive and affective learning outcomes.

This study employed a pre-test–post-test control group quasi-experimental design, one of the quantitative research methods. The study was conducted with a total of 40 English preparatory class students attending a state high school. The students were divided into two groups: an experimental group (n = 20) and a control group (n = 20). The groups were formed from students with similar English proficiency levels prior to the application. The application process lasted a total of 10 weeks. In the experimental group, speaking lessons were conducted with chatbot support for 2 hours per week. Chatbot-supported activities were carried out in the school's computer lab and under the guidance of a teacher. The students' interactions with the chatbot were guided by semi-structured conversation prompts developed by the researcher. These prompts included daily conversation, expressing opinions, scenario-based tasks, and problem-solving focused conversation activities, aiming to encourage students to use the target language in meaningful contexts. In the control group, the existing speaking teaching programme determined by the Turkish Ministry of National Education was implemented, and no chatbot or similar digital support tools were used. Two different measurement tools were used in the data collection process. A speaking proficiency test, administered as a pre-test and post-test, was used to measure the development of students' speaking skills. In addition, the English Speaking Anxiety Scale, developed by Woodrow (2006) and adapted into Turkish by Alkan, Bümen and Uslu (2019), which measures classroom and non-classroom speaking anxiety, was used to determine students' levels of English speaking anxiety. The data obtained were analysed using quantitative analysis methods; the differences between the post-test scores of the experimental and control groups were statistically compared.

Research findings indicate that chatbot-supported conversation teaching has a significant impact on the speaking skills of sixth form English preparatory class students. At the end of the implementation process, it was determined that the scores obtained by the experimental group students on the speaking proficiency test were statistically significantly higher than those of the control group students. This result demonstrates that chatbot-assisted speaking activities are an effective pedagogical tool for developing students' oral production skills. In addition, findings from the speaking anxiety scale showed that the experimental group students' levels of anxiety about speaking English were significantly lower than those of the control group students. It can be said that the chatbot-supported teaching process reduced students' fear of making mistakes and encouraged them to participate more willingly in speaking activities. These findings are consistent with previous research suggesting that the non-judgmental and supportive learning environments offered by chatbots provide an effective solution, particularly for students experiencing speaking anxiety (Ding et al., 2025; Özcan, 2025). Overall, the study demonstrates that chatbot-supported speaking instruction has positive effects on both cognitive (speaking success) and affective (speaking anxiety) learning outcomes. This effect is likely due to the fact that the fear of making mistakes in front of a live person (teacher), which is common in Turkish culture, and the associated low self-confidence can be overcome through interaction with a digital tool. In this context, it has been concluded that chatbots can be used as a complementary and supportive tool to traditional speech teaching in English as a foreign language. The research is significant in that it demonstrates that the use of chatbots, guided by teachers and pedagogically structured, offers an effective and feasible teaching approach at secondary school level.

Alkan, S., Bümen, N. T., & Uslu, S. (2019). İngilizce konuşma kaygısı ölçeğinin Türkçeye uyarlanması: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Eğitimde Kuram ve Uygulama, 15(3), 366–382. https://doi.org/10.17244/eku.2019.03.006 Ding, Y., Li, X., & Wang, H. (2025). The effects of AI-powered chatbots on EFL learners’ speaking performance and anxiety: A meta-analytic review. Computer Assisted Language Learning. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2025.xxxxxx Han, S., Lee, J., & Kim, Y. (2020). The impact of voice-based chatbots on EFL learners’ speaking skills and speaking anxiety. Language Learning & Technology, 24(3), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.125/llt.2020.24.3.01 Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125–132. https://doi.org/10.2307/327317 Khalik, M. A., Rahman, M. M., & Hassan, R. (2025). Reducing speaking anxiety through chatbot-mediated rehearsal in EFL contexts. Educational Technology Research and Development, 73(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-024-10345-x Özcan, E. (2025). Üniversite İngilizce hazırlık programı öğrencilerinin yabancı dil olarak İngilizce öğreniminde chatbotlara yönelik tutumları (Yayımlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi). Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi.