The most viewed article on UVicSpace for the month of May was a masters thesis titled Unmasking ChatGPT: The Challenges of Using Artificial Intelligence for Learning Vocabulary in English as an Additional Language written by department of linguistics masters student, Chloë Farr.
The thesis examined the capabilities of ChatGPT as a tutor for learning the English language. Farr did this by taking the AI through a series of guided interactions, from exploring how ChatGPT would interact with newer EAL learners, to gauging how accurately ChatGPT assesses learner’s comprehension of the language in preparation for tests.
From these interactions, Farr was able to conclude that “ChatGPT can be used for language learning, but shouldn’t be.” Which seemed closely linked to the AI’s own assessment of their abilities as an English tutor. As when Farr asked how high it would recommend itself to additional language learners, key take aways was that it said it “can be used for some aspects of language learning,” but that should not be used without the help of a person’s feedback.
During the month of May, the thesis gained 185 views on UVicSpace, meaning that it was viewed a total 816 times from February to May 31. Interestingly enough, the country that the most views originated from was the Philippines, with 108 views, with second most amount of views by country being Canada at a total of 80 views. Regardless of this statistic, it is clear that the thesis has reached a global audience, with readers spanning from Namibia to Sweden.
Chloë Farr was a graduate student from the linguistics department at the University of Victoria focusing on “computer and mobile-assisted language learning”. If you are interested in learning more about her research, we encourage you check out her author page on UVicSpace!
Farr’s supervisor for this thesis was Dr. Sonya Bird, who’s research “combines Phonetics with Indigenous Language Documentation and Revitalization.” If you are intrigued by the work that Dr. Bird does, we suggest you check out either her author page, or her supervisor page (which contains the works of all the students she’s supervised over the years) on UVicSpace!
Farr is also a Quantitative Analysis, Programming, & Electronics Graduate Assistant for the UVic Libraries’ Digital Scholarship Commons (DSC). If you are interested in learning more about the work at Chloë does with the DSC, we encourage that you check out Indigenous Language & STEM brainstorming esources, a brief guide for technology, authored by Rich McCue with Chloë’s assistance.
As Chloë’s final oral was this past January, we are looking forward to her future publications in the field of linguistics!
