The role of ChatGPT readiness in shaping language teachers' language teaching innovation and meeting accountability: A bisymmetric approach

There are some dichotomies surrounding ChatGPT's application and impact on education as a central part of artificial intelligence (AI) integration. Problems concerning negative preconceptions and the limited usage of this form of AI have been reported, as some teachers perceive it as a competitor. This is due to insufficient readiness for its integration and a lack of understanding of how it can facilitate teaching innovation. Due to this, the researchers applied a bisymmetric approach, where necessity conditional analysis (NCA) as a symmetrical approach employs necessity logic to identify the must-have factors required for language teachers' passing accountability, while PLS-SEM as an asymmetrical approach follows additive sufficiency logic to identify the should-have factors that contribute to helping them to pass their accountability. Applying this approach would generate more results from different perspectives in ChatGPT readiness and language teaching innovation with it. In this line, the researchers randomly explored 124 Iranian in-service language teachers ChatGPT readiness and their teaching innovation in helping them pass the external and internal language teaching competencies. The result of the PLS-SEM showed that the more the language teachers were ready to practically use ChatGPT alongside, aware of its opportunities and challenges in English language teaching (ELT), the more they could generate more language teaching methods and approaches with it, apply them to their language teaching procedures, and share them with their colleagues. Moreover, their generational language teaching methods with ChatGPT mediated the correlation between ChatGPT readiness and meeting internal accountability. Additionally, the NCA showed that the generation of language teaching methods with ChatGPT and their implementation through it were among the necessary factors that help language teachers meet both internal and external accountability by teaching language with ChatGPT. Based on these findings, the researchers recommended that stakeholders shift their focus from AI programming to AI teaching, especially for ELT.