The Role of Artificial Intelligence Tools on Chinese EFL Learners' Self-Regulation, Resilience and Autonomy

Abstract

The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) in education has attracted scholars' research interest around the world, and they have demonstrated the effectiveness of using AI in the English as a foreign language (EFL) setting. While previous studies have examined AI's role in improving linguistic proficiency, limited research has examined its role in key psychological concepts such as self-regulation, resilience and autonomy among EFL learners. Addressing this gap, the present study explored the impact of AI on the self-regulation, resilience and autonomy of Chinese EFL students. The students were assigned to two groups: the experimental group included 94 learners who were taught through AI tools, while the control group included 89 learners who received traditional language education. A pretest was administered using three scales, namely self-regulation, resilience and autonomy. After the completion of the instructional sessions, a posttest was administered to both groups with identical questionnaires. Eventually, the study analysed the data collected through Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), revealing that the group utilising AI tools significantly outperformed the others regarding all three variables. Indeed, utilising AI tools notably enhanced the self-regulation, resilience and autonomy of EFL students. The research implications were thoroughly discussed.