Speakers
Description
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has increasingly been used by English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to support teaching-related tasks. However, little is known about how EFL upper secondary school teachers utilise GenAI for instructional decision-making in Vietnamese school contexts. This study investigated (i) how EFL upper secondary school teachers used GenAI for instructional decision-making and (ii) what contradictions arose within the activity systems surrounding this use. Methodologically, the study employed qualitative multiple case study research with six EFL upper secondary school teachers in Vietnam. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews and relevant documents, including lesson plans, teaching materials, AI-generated outputs, and teacher–GenAI interaction records where available. Data collection, analysis, and interpretation were guided by Activity Theory, focusing on the key elements of the GenAI-mediated instructional decision-making activity system: subject, object, tools, rules, community, division of labour, and outcomes. The findings revealed that teachers utilised GenAI as a mediating tool to support instructional decisions related to lesson planning, activity selection, material adaptation, scaffolding, differentiation, and assessment. Several contradictions arose within these activity systems, including tensions between teachers’ professional judgement and AI-generated suggestions, curriculum expectations and classroom realities, and GenAI affordances and concerns about accuracy, appropriateness, and overreliance. The study offers implications for teacher professional development, school-level GenAI guidance, and the responsible use of GenAI in EFL instructional decision-making.
Keywords: Generative Artificial Intelligence, EFL teachers, instructional decision-making, upper secondary education, Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, Vietnam.
Biography
Nguyen Thi Bao Tran is an upper-secondary school English teacher under the Department of Education and Training of Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam. With 22 years of experience teaching English at the high school level, she has developed strong expertise in EFL pedagogy, curriculum implementation, classroom-based innovation, and teacher professional development. She is also currently a visiting lecturer at Tra Vinh University, where she contributes to English language education and teacher training. Her professional interests include EFL teaching methodology, collaborative writing, learner autonomy, generative AI in education, and teacher professional learning in Vietnamese school contexts.
Pham Van Khanh is an EFL lecturer working at the undergraduate level in Vietnam. He is currently affiliated with the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Engineering. He holds an MA in TESOL from the University of Southern Queensland. His research interests include language teacher identity, teacher agency, and professional development in English language teaching and teacher education contexts.
| Affiliate type | Vietnamese public school |
|---|