Pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards artificial intelligence and its integration into EFL teaching and learning

Abstract Even though artificial intelligence (AI) is no new occurrence, with its beginnings dating back to the 1950s, its use has gained popularity worldwide, especially in recent years, and its presence and importance has grown in many areas of human lives, including education. Surveys conducted internationally have found generally positive attitudes of university students towards artificial intelligence (AI) and its inclusion into various fields of research and study. However, only few research probes have been conducted among students of philology and future language teachers. No such research has been conducted among university students or pre-service EFL teachers in Central Europe. This paper aims to fill this gap in educational research knowledge, as knowing teachers’ and teacher students’ attitudes towards AI can be a key factor in the success or failure of applying AI in education. Therefore, the aim of the study is to determine the level of knowledge and dominant attitudes towards AI in general, AI in learning/teaching EFL and the inclusion of AI in the teacher training curriculum among pre-service EFL teachers in Slovakia. To collect data from the respondents, a cross-sectional survey in the form of a KAP questionnaire was conducted in November-December 2022. 137 pre-service English language teachers responded to a pre-tested online questionnaire consisting of 19 closed-ended (5-point Likert scale) items and one open-ended question. Slovak EFL pre-service teachers were equally interested (38.67%) and uninterested (39.42%) in the ongoing discussion about AI in education. Overall, they self-reported having no (61.31%) or unsatisfactory (21.17%) understanding of the basic computational principles of AI. On the other hand, they were significantly more satisfied with their knowledge of AI-based applications for EFL teaching, which they considered adequate (35.04%). Nevertheless, almost half of the students (45.25%) rated their knowledge as inadequate. It was therefore encouraging to learn that 64.24% of the respondents agreed that AI education should be included in their university curriculum and had predominantly positive expectations of AI and its application in education. 63.50% of them agreed with the statement that AI will improve education in general (compared to only 18.98% who disagreed). They shared a predominantly positive attitude towards the incorporation of AI into EFL and showed their optimistic expectations regarding the impact of AI on teaching and learning English as a foreign language. Slovak EFL pre-service teachers did not express any concerns about the future of their profession. However, a majority of them (53.28%) agreed that EFL teachers might lose some of their skills when using AI in their practice and a significant number (42.33%) feared that AI would make EFL teaching less personal. These findings are consistent with previous research conducted internationally.