Balancing the Triple Needs: Iranian EFL Learners’ Lived Experiences with AI Chatbots in Intercultural Communication

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 PhD Candidate in TEFL, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Languages, Arak University, Arak, Iran

2 Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Languages, Arak University, Arak, Iran

Abstract

The development of intercultural communicative competence remains a critical yet under-addressed challenge for Iranian EFL learners. This qualitative study aimed to explore Iranian EFL students’ lived experiences of using AI chatbots to balance the three interdependent needs of the Triple Needs Framework: linguistic, emotional, and cultural (Ghorbani & Dowlatabadi, 2023). Although originally derived from Iranian language teachers’ viewpoints and still an emerging rather than fully established theory, the framework was extended here as an analytic lens to examine whether its hierarchical, interdependent logic is recognizable in learners’ AI-mediated intercultural practice. In week 14 of the 2026 academic year, 15 upper-intermediate participants were purposively drawn from the experimental arm of a larger parent quasi-experimental study and stratified by post-intervention ICC gain and digital-literacy level. The parent study had reported overall positive but heterogeneous ICC gains in that experimental group, with digital literacy moderating the size of those gains. Each completed a semi-structured interview lasting 35–48 minutes. Data were analyzed using the six stages of induction proposed by Braun and Clarke (2006). The results demonstrated inter-coder reliability with Cohen’s coefficient of κ = 0.84. Five themes were extracted, namely linguistic scaffolding and pragmatic development, emotional support and anxiety reduction, cultural awareness and critical reflexivity, cognitive-affective tension in the simultaneous fulfillment of three needs, and moderating role of digital literacy and limitations of context. The majority of the participants mentioned that the technical demands of the software were relatively easy to overcome, but the fulfillment of three basic needs caused considerable cognitive load.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Applied Research on English Language

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 06 October 2026

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History

  • Receive Date: 06 August 2026
  • Revise Date: 15 September 2026
  • Accept Date: 06 October 2026

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