Can AI Reduce Acculturative Stress? Exploring the Role of AI-Mediated Speaking Practice in Chinese International Students' Perceived Language Insufficiency, Social Isolation, and Academic Pressure

2026-05-15

AI Summary

This study addresses the challenges of cross-cultural adaptation faced by Chinese students in the UK, stemming from limited language proficiency, social isolation, and academic stress. It proposes an innovative psychosocial intervention—EAP Talk, a four-week AI-assisted academic spoken English training platform integrating role-play, situational dialogues, and automated feedback within authentic educational contexts. Employing a mixed-methods design, the research combines quantitative analysis using linear mixed-effects models with qualitative interviews. Findings indicate that participants in the intervention group demonstrated significant improvements in language confidence, social integration, and perceived academic stress, with the most pronounced gains observed in language confidence. This work represents the first application of AI-mediated speaking practice as a support mechanism for cross-cultural adaptation, affirming its complementary role while underscoring that AI cannot yet substitute human interaction or discipline-specific academic guidance.

Abstract

This study examined whether AI-mediated speaking practice can reduce acculturative stress among Chinese international students in UK universities. Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, 126 participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group, which completed a four-week intervention using EAP Talk, an AI-assisted English for Academic Purposes speaking platform offering role play, scenario-based practice, free talk, and automated feedback, or a control group, which continued usual academic and English-learning activities. Pre- and post-test questionnaires measured perceived language insufficiency, social isolation, and academic pressure, while semi-structured interviews with 20 experimental-group participants contextualised the quantitative findings. Linear mixed-effects models showed that the experimental group experienced significantly greater reductions than the control group across all three outcomes, with the strongest effect on perceived language insufficiency. Interview findings suggested that EAP Talk supported low-stakes rehearsal, communicative confidence, academic speaking preparation, and greater willingness to initiate social interaction. However, participants also noted that AI-mediated practice could not fully reproduce authentic human interaction, disciplinary feedback, or broader institutional support. The findings suggest that AI-mediated speaking practice can function as a supplementary scaffold for reducing communication-related dimensions of acculturative stress, but should be integrated with peer interaction, teacher feedback, and wider support services.

Problem

• acculturative stress
• AI-mediated speaking practice
• language insufficiency
• social isolation
• academic pressure

Innovation

• AI-mediated speaking practice
• acculturative stress
• mixed-methods design
• EAP Talk
• language insufficiency