Optimizing Code-Switching in Conversational Tutoring Systems: A Pedagogical Framework and Evaluation

Zhengyuan Liu, Stella Xin Yin, Nancy Chen


Abstract
Large language models demonstrate remarkable proficiency in various tasks across multiple languages. However, their potential in code-switching remains underexplored, particularly in cultural and educational contexts. Code-switching or translanguaging plays a crucial role in bilingual education, facilitating comprehension and engagement among students with varied linguistic proficiencies. In this work, we present a pedagogy-inspired framework that introduces traditional classroom practices of code-switching to intelligent tutoring systems. Specifically, we develop fine-grained instructional strategies tailored to multilingual and educational needs. We conduct experiments involving both LLM-based evaluation and expert analysis to assess the effectiveness of translanguaging in tutoring dialogues. Our experimental results indicate that strategic code-switching can significantly enhance the learning experience. This work not only advances dialogic tutors in language learning, but also extends LLMs to better accommodate multilingual interaction.
Anthology ID:
2024.sigdial-1.43
Volume:
Proceedings of the 25th Annual Meeting of the Special Interest Group on Discourse and Dialogue
Month:
September
Year:
2024
Address:
Kyoto, Japan
Editors:
Tatsuya Kawahara, Vera Demberg, Stefan Ultes, Koji Inoue, Shikib Mehri, David Howcroft, Kazunori Komatani
Venue:
SIGDIAL
SIG:
SIGDIAL
Publisher:
Association for Computational Linguistics
Note:
Pages:
500–515
Language:
URL:
https://aclanthology.org/2024.sigdial-1.43
DOI:
10.18653/v1/2024.sigdial-1.43
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Zhengyuan Liu, Stella Xin Yin, and Nancy Chen. 2024. Optimizing Code-Switching in Conversational Tutoring Systems: A Pedagogical Framework and Evaluation. In Proceedings of the 25th Annual Meeting of the Special Interest Group on Discourse and Dialogue, pages 500–515, Kyoto, Japan. Association for Computational Linguistics.
Cite (Informal):
Optimizing Code-Switching in Conversational Tutoring Systems: A Pedagogical Framework and Evaluation (Liu et al., SIGDIAL 2024)
Copy Citation:
PDF:
https://aclanthology.org/2024.sigdial-1.43.pdf