Although there has been some progress, the integration of artificial intelligence into higher education remains far from sufficient. The demand for teachers will persist for some time; however, with the introduction of AI-based robots into classrooms, the role of teachers has reduced to a minimum. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate Chinese higher education students’ intentions to adopt AI-based robots for educational purposes. Based on the TAM3 model, the current study proposes 14 hypotheses to evaluate students’ intention to adopt AI-based robots in education. The students’ data were collected and analyzed using PLS-SEM. The study findings revealed that 12 hypotheses were accepted and two were rejected. The results indicate that students are willing to accept AI-based robots in their education. However, the findings revealed an insignificant influence of job relevance and robot anxiety on perceived usefulness and ease of use, respectively. The findings of this study will provide insight into university administrations regarding the significance of AI-based robots in education. Moreover, the findings will help robot developers, policy makers, and university administrators design and implement AI-based robots that fulfill contemporary education needs.

The purpose of this study was to determine what difficulties King Saud University students encounter when learning to write academic English and to differentiate between students’ learning needs and objectives. The sample consisted of 50 postgraduate students enrolled in King Saud University during the academic year 2009-2010. Analysis of the data showed that English as a second language (ESL) students face many difficulties and stresses in their academic writing, such as difficulty distinguishing between spoken and written English, making an outline before writing a draft, identifying the skills needed for successful writing, and avoiding plague words and phrases.

Despite recognition that language can best be learned in an authentic context, and a growing emphasis on the importance of using technology to improve listening skills, only limited research in this area exists in a Saudi context. To add to this research, this quantitative study examines the influence of podcasting on the listening comprehension of 46 female Saudi EFL students in higher education. The randomly selected participants were divided into two groups: a control and an experimental group, and given a six week treatment. A T-test and questionnaire were employed, and the results indicate significant differences between the two groups, favoring the experimental group.

New-borns are capable of recognising and producing sounds as they become phonologically competent. Following this, infants develop a system for connecting these sounds, which helps them become increasingly lexically competent over time. Their knowledge of these words grows as they develop, using words to form phrases, turning them into sentences, and ultimately becoming syntactically competent. By making sense of these linguistic elements, these three competencies are enhanced, and this is how infants become semantically competent. As infants continue to develop linguistic and non-linguistic communication behaviours, this miraculous language development becomes even more complex, enabling them to perfect their linguistic abilities while being pragmatically competent. In this study, a scientometric approach was used to examine past, present, and future trends in pragmatic language development (PLD). A total of 6455 documents were analysed from the Scopus, WOS, and Lens databases between 1950 and 2022. The analysis involved the visualisation and tabulation of eight bibliometric and eight scientometric indicators using CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.18 software for data analysis. In this study, we highlight the major patterns and topics directing the research on PLD between 1950 and 2022. The themes and topics included (1) analysing PLD as a social behaviour through the lens of executive functions; (2) studying PLD as a social behaviour based on social understanding; (3) examining PLD as a social behaviour associated with autism spectrum disorder; (4) developing an understanding of PLD in academic settings through the examination of executive functions; (5) identifying pragmatic competence versus communicative competence as a social behaviour; (6) analysing pragmatic language skills in aphasic patients via epistemic stances (i.e., attitudes towards knowledge in interaction); (7) investigating PLD as a behavioural problem in the context of a foreign language; (8) assessing PLD as a behavioural problem in individuals with autism spectrum disorder; (9) assessing PLD in persons with traumatic brain injury and closed head injury as a behavioural problem; (10) identifying the role of the right hemisphere in executive functions as a cognitive substrate; (11) assessing the impact of pragmatic failure in speech acts on pragmatic competence; and (12) investigating the patterns of PLD among learning-disabled children.

Technology has changed the social landscape and the nature of social interaction. Education has been affected by these changes, as technology has facilitated the creation and Implementation of new educational environments and delivery methods (e.g., distance and blended-learning structures). While the prevalence of such approaches has increased over time, little is known about the learning skills that promote academic success; consequently, the ability of instructors and administrators to implement appropriate methods to foster these skills is hindered. This study examines distance education and focuses on the self-regulation literature to identify skills that can predict ESL learning success in a blended educational environment. Data were collected from 70 students attending a blended English language course. Using subscales from Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, five Self-regulatory attributes likely to predict academic performance were identified: intrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy for learning and performance, time and study environment management, help seeking, and Internet self-efficacy.