AI integration into language education and teacher identity: An ecological perspective

Abstract

This study explores how the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools into language education can influence language teachers’ identity from an ecological perspective. To do so, 16 teachers were selected based on purposeful sampling and completed a narrative frame. To corroborate data, seven of them (based on the richness of their narrative frames) attended a semi-structured interview in which they discussed the integration of AI in their classes and how it impacted their identity. The semi-structured interviews were translated and transcribed and along with the narrative frames were analyzed by employing thematic analysis. The findings of this study revealed that AI integration in language education had a significant impact on participating teachers’ identity and shaped their identity at different ecological layers of micro-pedagogical, meso-institutional, and macro-societal. These findings may assist teachers and teacher educators in raising awareness about AI integration into language education and how it can construct language teacher identity.