Is ChatGPT an evil or an angel for second language education and research? A phenomenographic study of research-active EFL teachers’ perceptions

Artificial intelligence (AI) is influencing different aspects of human life. An AI-powered technology, which has been recently released, is ChatGPT. It is a cutting-edge technology that influences second/foreign language (L2) education. Although there is increasing research on the benefits and misfits of this chatbot in different disciplines, L2 education lacks a thorough investigation. To fill this lacuna, this phenomenographic study examined the perceptions of research-active English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers regarding the potentials and pitfalls of ChatGPT for L2 learning, teaching, assessment, and research. To this end, a semistructured interview was held with 30 Iranian EFL teachers with varying educational backgrounds and AI integration experiences. The results of content and thematic analysis indicated that ChatGPT is a double-edged sword that can both benefit and hurt these areas of L2 education. The most notable potentials were augmenting learner autonomy, providing personalized learning, reducing teachers’ teaching workload, designing assessment rubrics, and summarizing lengthy papers and theses to save L2 researchers’ time and energy. Concerning pitfalls, it was reported that ChatGPT might kill creativity and academic integrity, encourage cheating in online exams, spread fake and misinformation into the world of research, and cherish high-tech plagiarism. Some practical suggestions are made to empower L2 educators and researchers to survive in the world of AI.