Why Learners Drift In and Out: Examining Intermittent Discontinuance in AI-Mediated Informal Digital English Learning (AI-IDLE) Using SEM and fsQCA

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Du, Yiran, He, Huimin
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Du, Yiran
He, Huimin
author_facet Du, Yiran
He, Huimin
contents This study examined intermittent discontinuance in AI-mediated informal digital learning of English (AI-IDLE) through the cognition-affect-conation framework. Survey data were collected from 632 Chinese university EFL learners with prior AI-IDLE experience and analysed using structural equation modelling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The SEM results showed that perceived intelligence, perceived interactivity, and perceived personalisation reduced AI-IDLE intermittent discontinuance indirectly through enjoyment, whereas perceived ineffectiveness, perceived uncontrollability, and perceived complexity increased discontinuance indirectly through boredom. The fsQCA results further identified four configurational pathways leading to intermittent discontinuance, indicating that learners' temporary withdrawal from AI-IDLE can result from different combinations of cognitive barriers and affective disengagement. These findings extend AI-IDLE research from adoption and continuance to post-adoption discontinuance and highlight the need to design AI-supported English learning experiences that are enjoyable, personalised, controllable, and cognitively manageable.
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publishDate 2026
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spellingShingle Why Learners Drift In and Out: Examining Intermittent Discontinuance in AI-Mediated Informal Digital English Learning (AI-IDLE) Using SEM and fsQCA
Du, Yiran
He, Huimin
Human-Computer Interaction
This study examined intermittent discontinuance in AI-mediated informal digital learning of English (AI-IDLE) through the cognition-affect-conation framework. Survey data were collected from 632 Chinese university EFL learners with prior AI-IDLE experience and analysed using structural equation modelling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The SEM results showed that perceived intelligence, perceived interactivity, and perceived personalisation reduced AI-IDLE intermittent discontinuance indirectly through enjoyment, whereas perceived ineffectiveness, perceived uncontrollability, and perceived complexity increased discontinuance indirectly through boredom. The fsQCA results further identified four configurational pathways leading to intermittent discontinuance, indicating that learners' temporary withdrawal from AI-IDLE can result from different combinations of cognitive barriers and affective disengagement. These findings extend AI-IDLE research from adoption and continuance to post-adoption discontinuance and highlight the need to design AI-supported English learning experiences that are enjoyable, personalised, controllable, and cognitively manageable.
title Why Learners Drift In and Out: Examining Intermittent Discontinuance in AI-Mediated Informal Digital English Learning (AI-IDLE) Using SEM and fsQCA
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.27493