Shared book reading with AI chatbots: comparison of the effects of instructional style on children’s language abilities between typical and poor readers

The current study aimed to compare the effects of artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbots with only autonomy-support (AS) or ­controlling style (CS) application on children’s language learning outcomes through shared book reading (SBR) activities for young children with different reading competences, namely, typical readers and poor readers. This study recruited 144 typical readers and 142 poor readers from Chinese kindergartens and randomly assigned them to the CS, AS, and control groups. Pre- and posttests were administered to assess the children’s language skills and reading interest before and after the SBR intervention, which used an AI chatbot. Results showed that instructional style had different impacts on the language learning outcomes of typical and poor readers. In particular, typical readers from the AS group showed better language learning outcomes, whilst poor readers from the CS group received better language learning outcomes. This study provides empirical evidence on the potential of using AI chatbot in SBR to enhance the language skills and reading interest development of children with different reading competences. Furthermore, this study offers insights into the process of selecting the optimal instructional styles to satisfy children’s specific autonomy and competence needs.