Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article

Fostering Critical AI Literacy through A Decolonial Use of ChatGPT in ESL/EFL Classrooms

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Submitted   Apr 4, 2025
Published   Jul 7, 2025
Issue    Vol 5 No 2 (2025)
DOI   10.25082/AMLER.2025.02.005

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Purna Chandra Bhusal corresponding author
Department of English, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA

Abstract

This article examines the potential and risks of integrating AI tools, such as ChatGPT, into ESL/EFL classrooms from a decolonial perspective to enhance vocabulary instruction. Centering on eighteen English words from an English textbook designed for school education, the study examines how ESL/EFL vocabulary can be taught using ChatGPT to encourage students to engage with and critically reflect on its outputs. Employing the method of strategic prompting and qualitative content analysis of ChatGPT responses, the article explores how students' first languages (L1) can be meaningfully connected to English (L2) using ChatGPT as a pedagogical tool, particularly within a multilingual and multiethnic educational context. The study demonstrates that a decolonial approach to AI tools, such as ChatGPT, can enhance ESL/EFL pedagogy by promoting linguistic inclusivity and fostering critical AI literacy among students. Hence, the article contributes to the emerging conversations on decolonial ESL/EFL pedagogy and critical AI literacy by positioning AI tools, such as ChatGPT, not as a neutral source of information, but as a tool to enhance language learning in diverse linguistic contexts with a higher degree of human intervention.

Keywords
ChatGPT, critical AI literacy, decolonial education, ESL/EFL pedagogy

Article Details

How to Cite
Bhusal, P. C. (2025). Fostering Critical AI Literacy through A Decolonial Use of ChatGPT in ESL/EFL Classrooms. Advances in Mobile Learning Educational Research, 5(2), 1472-1487. https://doi.org/10.25082/AMLER.2025.02.005
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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