ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Digital Learning Innovations
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1656204
Toward Sustained Interaction: Investigating the Drivers of Continued Use of AI Chatbots for Language Learning in Confucius Institutes
Provisionally accepted
- Faculty of Humanities, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Encouraging users to continue utilizing AI chatbots for Mandarin learning has emerged as a key challenge for technology developers, educators, and the broader education market. This study investigates the factors influencing the continued use of AI chatbots among Chinese language learners enrolled in Confucius Institutes across eight Southeast Asian countries. Using a convenience sampling method, data were collected from 737 learners, all of whom had prior experience using AI chatbots for Chinese language learning. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to examine the hypothesized relationships and test the proposed model. The results reveal that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions all positively influence learners' motivation to use AI chatbots. Regarding satisfaction, the same four constructs also exhibit significant positive effects. For continuance intention to use AI chatbots for Chinese language learning, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions show direct effects, whereas social influence is non-significant. Importantly, learning motivation and learning satisfaction serve as critical mediators, through which the effects of social influence and technological perceptions are transmitted, thereby strengthening users' sustained engagement. This study proposes a unified model that integrates the two key factors that affect technology continuity: cognitive and affective. On a practical level, the results provide actionable suggestions for educational policymakers, EdTech developers, and Confucius Institute administrators to improve AI-mediated language instruction. Keywords:AI Chatbots; Chinese Language Learning; Continuance Intention;Confucius Institute; Learning Motivation; UTAUT,
Keywords: AI chatbots, Chinese language learning, continuance intention, Confucius Institute, Learning motivation, UTAUT
Received: 04 Jul 2025; Accepted: 17 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jiang, Numtong and Asavaratana. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kanokporn Numtong, kanokporn.n@ku.th
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.