UNIVERSITY TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON USING THE TESLA CHATBOT IN EMI COURSES A CASE STUDY FROM SINGIDUNUM UNIVERSITY
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As English-medium instruction (EMI) expands in Serbian higher education, university teachers who are non-native English speakers face unique challenges in engaging international students. This study presents a pilot initiative involving a multilingual AI chatbot modeled on the persona of Nikola Tesla, designed to support student motivation, interaction, and informal language practice in English. The chatbot was implemented at Singidunum University in Belgrade, where ten subject-specialist professors, native speakers of Serbian, used the tool while teaching international students enrolled in the university’s Studies in English programs. The paper examines teachers’ reflections on the chatbot’s technical usability, its perceived impact on student engagement, and its contribution to pedagogical innovation and creativity. Rather than positioning the chatbot as a replacement for traditional teaching methods, the study emphasizes its role as a supplementary tool that can enrich EMI delivery. It calls for further research into teacher-driven perspectives on digital augmentation in multilingual classrooms, particularly with respect to refining chatbot design to meet the specific pedagogical demands of different academic disciplines.
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