VietTESOL International Convention 2026

Teaching English in the “New era” in Vietnam requires English teachers to have both a good command of the subject matter and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based tools and their applications. This study aims to investigate pre-service English teachers’ integration of AI-based tools into English instruction, focusing on their readiness level and factors affecting their integration. Employing a mixed-methods research design and the Constructivist learning theory and “Artificial Intelligence-Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (AI-TPACK)” model, the current study collected both quantitative and qualitative data through a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews from 216 pre-service teachers at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data underwent content analysis. The findings revealed that pre-teachers have a high level of readiness for AI-based tool integration in their English instruction, and that a high agreement among them on factors affecting their integration (e.g., technical, pedagogical, and cultural factors) was also reported. The study underscores the significance of pre-teachers' readiness to integrate AI-based tools in their English instruction. It offers insights into preparing English teachers, using the AI-TPACK model to bridge AI knowledge and its effective use in English instruction in the new era in Vietnam.
Keywords: AI-based tools, English instruction, integration, pre-service teachers