EFFECTS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) ON SOCIOPRAGMATIC COMPETENCE AMONG STUDENTS IN SELECTED UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The development of sociopragmatic competence in the English language has long been recognized as a crucial component of communicative competence especially in a second language environment such as Nigeria. Several studies have examined the role of technology in improving grammatical and lexical competence, yet few have explored its effect on sociopragmatic skills. Given Nigeria’s multilingual environment and its reliance on English as the lingua franca and official language, understanding how Artificial intelligence influences the learner’s social use of language is essential. The study, therefore, examines how AI-mediated learning platforms affect students’ ability to interpret and apply sociopragmatic norms in English communication. The population for the study comprises undergraduate students of English and Literary studies from three universities: Imo State University, Owerri, Madonna University, Okija and Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam. A sample of 60 students was purposively selected and six English language lecturers were interviewed. Three research instruments were used for data collection, Sociopragmatic competence questionnaire (SCQ), AI Interaction Task (AIT) and semi-structured interviews. Dell Hyme’s theory of communicative competence and Leech’s Sociopragmatic theory form the theoretical bases of the work and guide for the analysis of data. Findings show that AI unlike the traditional method significantly helps students to develop confidence and pragmatic intuition, hence, their improvement on discourse management skills and contextual sensitivity. However, there are some urgent concerns; AI responses though grammatically correct yet often lack the cultural nuances of the language under study. This implies that AI responses do not always align with the English sociocultural expectations. Moreover, AI language tools most often fail to interpret pragmatic elements like irony, metaphor, sarcasm, idioms and other cultural-bound words, and this can lead to misunderstanding, miscommunication in intercultural interactions. The study, therefore, recommends a balance between AI and Sociopragmatics since an overreliance on AI can affect the students’ sociopragmatic awareness, particularly in interpreting and producing contextually appropriate utterances.