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ONLINE PRESENTATION
Technology has largely affected the way language learners seek information. Digital formats virtually superseded the paper dictionary (Ptasznik, Wolfer and Lew, 2024), online translators gained much importance (O’Neill, 2019), and web browsers became the first port of call (Kosem et al., 2019). Obviously, generative AI systems imitating human-like communication mark another watershed for online information behavior (De Schryver et al., 2023; Qu and Wu, 2024).
The aim of the study is to investigate English language learners’ information seeking behavior on the web in the AI era. The following research questions are posed:
RQ1: Which online tools: search engines/browsers, dictionaries, translators or AI assistants do learners of English access to solve language problems?
RQ2: How often and in what situations do they turn to these tools?
RQ3: How do English learners assess their digital literacy needed to solve language problems using the tools?
RQ4: How do they evaluate the online tools?
RQ5: Which devices are most often used to find linguistic information online?
To answer the research questions, an online questionnaire was designed. So far, it has been conducted among 379 B1/B2+ learners of English in Slovenia, out of whom 161 provided valid answers. Preliminary results indicate that in situations of linguistic deficit, online translators are the first port of call (70%, mainly Google translate, DeepL and Pons), followed by search engines/browsers (60%, mostly Google, less often Safari and Chrome). About 40% of the respondents consult online dictionaries (like the Cambridge Dictionary) and AI assistants (ChatGPT, occasionally Deepseek and Grok; RQ1). Online translators and search engines/browsers are typically used once or a few times a week, online dictionaries – once a week or once a month, while AI assistants – every day, once or a few times a week (RQ2). As a rule, all the tools are consulted for both official and unofficial purposes (i.e., to get help with comprehension and production in daily situations both related and unrelated to university/job). Leisure activities (writing creative texts for pleasure or playing word games) are the least important consultation motives (RQ2). The respondents think a lot of their digital proficiency. Virtually all of them claim that at least half of their last 10 inquiries assisted by any tool were successful (RQ3). Also the tools themselves are highly esteemed. Almost all AI users enjoy their chats, and above 83% of learners like turning to the other tools. However, online dictionaries are considered the most trustworthy (91%), followed by search engines/browsers (68%) and AI assistants (61%). Online translators are trusted the least (53%; RQ4). Interestingly enough, smartphones most often serve to search the web, chat with AI and consult online translators, while online dictionaries are usually accessed from computers (RQ5).
The full paper gives a deeper insight into the tendencies emerging from the collected data, including open-ended questions (e.g., advantages and disadvantages of the investigated tools). The limitations of the study and new avenues of research are also discussed.
