Mobile Gramabot: Development of a Chatbot App for Interactive German Grammar Learning

Abstract

This study aims to develop the Gramabot application as a means of online learning during the pandemic and to examine its effectiveness as a medium for German grammar learning. The design-based research uses learning experience design methodology. Beside an introduction of the state of the art of chatbots for language learning, the paper describes the concept of the chatbot application and its evaluation. Prior experiences with chatbots, implementation experiences and evaluations insights were obtained from 36 Indonesian students with beginner level German language skills. The data were described using qualitative and simple descriptive statistical analysis. The results of the analysis show that most of the respondents are familiar with several chatbot applications, the use of chatbots is not as a learning medium, but as a means of asking questions about products. In addition, String Matching is a suitable method used to develop Gramabot. Based on the results of the evaluation, it can be concluded that Gramabot can help students understand basic level grammatical material.