Generative conversational AI - Active practices for fostering students with mild intellectual disabilities to improve English communication skills

Oct 15, 2026

Generative conversational AI is investigated as an instructional approach for learners with mild intellectual disabilities to strengthen English communication skills. The study works with twelve diagnosed students split into two equal groups: one engages in guided AI conversations, while the other practices through free AI conversations. Findings show guided conversations significantly improve English communication performance, with clearer advantages over free conversational approaches. Results support integrating structured AI guidance and tailoring applications to diverse learning needs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Rationale for AI in education

Role of generative AI and NLP-enabled feedback

OPEN ACCESS Research Article Contemporary Educational Technology, 2025, 17(1), ep549 ISSN: 1309-517X (Online) Generative conversational AI: Active practices for fostering students with mild intellectual disabilities to improve English communication skills Mohamed Ali Elkot 1* 0000-0001-6456-5957 Eltaieb Youssif 2 0009-0001-4723-3667 Omer Elsheikh Hago Elmahdi 3 0009-0009-1335-2607 Mohammed AbdAlgane 4 0000-0003-4782-9644 Rabea Ali 4 0000-0002-2860-3941 1 Department of Educational Technology, College of Education, Qassim University, SAUDI ARABIA 2 Department of Special Education, College of Education, Qassim University, SAUDI ARABIA 3 Department of Languages & Translation, Taibah University, SAUDI ARABIA 4 Department of English Language & Literature, College of Languages & Humanities, Qassim University, SAUDI ARABIA * [Corresponding author:](Corresponding author: m.alkot@qu.edu.sa)[ m.alkot@qu.edu.sa](Corresponding author: m.alkot@qu.edu.sa) Citation: Elkot, M. A., Youssif, E., Hago Elmahdi, O. E., AbdAlgane, M., & Ali, R. (2025) . Generative conversational AI: Active practices for fostering students with mild intellectual disabilities to improve English communication skills. Contemporary Educational Technology, 17(1), ep549. [https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15688](https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15688) ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT | Received: 25 May 2024
Accepted: 19 Nov 2024
INTRODUCTION | Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) technology in educational institutions for students with mild intellectual disabilities offers promising avenues for enhancing this population’s learning outcomes and skill development. This study aims to investigate the effect of using generative conversational AI to improve English communication skills among students with mild intellectual disabilities. The study involved twelve students diagnosed with mild intellectual disabilities, divided equally into two groups. Six students engaged in guided conversations with AI, while the other six participated in free conversations with AI. These participants were randomly chosen from educational institutions specializing in intellectual disability education and mainstream schools. The results indicate that guided conversations significantly enhance English communication skills among participants. Additionally, the study highlights the development gains from engaging in guided conversations by AI applications. Statistical analysis reveals notable differences in the effect of guided versus free conversational approaches, with guided conversations yielding superior outcomes. This underscores the importance of structured guidance for comprehension and participation in different English communication skills among students with mild intellectual disabilities. Moreover, the study recommends the integration of AI tools in education to support students with disabilities, emphasizing the need for tailored AI applications to cater to diverse learning needs.
Keywords: conversational AI, intellectual disability, education, communication skills | | --- | --- | The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the education process is a transformation of the educational landscape that requires the preparation of consideration of teaching methods and strategies, educational activities, and the real experiences of students (Sanabria-Navarro et al., 2023) . AI offers effective and customized solutions to support learning outcomes and specifically student engagement and interaction. The application and integration of information and communication technology (ICT) into the educational context have also been made easier by advances in ICT (Aremu et al., 2023), affecting the system of technology use in education. With the proliferation of large language models based on Generative AI, its characteristics are similar to human intelligence’s capabilities to generate text and visual content and intelligent communication (Cheng

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

To investigate how generative conversational AI affects English communication skills for students with mild intellectual disabilities.

How were the participants grouped during the study?

Twelve students with mild intellectual disabilities were split equally into two groups: six used guided AI conversations and six used free AI conversations.

What do the results suggest about guided versus free AI conversations?

Guided conversations significantly enhance English communication skills, and the study reports notable differences favoring guided conversational approaches.

Oct 15, 2026

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