What drives L2 teachers to embrace AI technologies? A phenomenological inquiry into the role of personal and job resources

Yan Wu; Ali Derakhshan

Authors

Professor Yan Wu School of English Education, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6971-9668
Professor Ali Derakhshan Golestan University (Iran) (Corresponding author) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6639-9339

Keywords:

artificial intelligence, job resources, personal resources, phenomenological inquiry, L2 teachers

Agencies: This work was supported by the General Project of Guangdong Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning 2022 Empirical Research on the Impact of Government-sponsored Overseas Study on the Professional Development of University Teachers: A Case Study of Guangdong Province. (Grant number: GD22CJY10).

Abstract

This phenomenological research delved into the contributions of personal and job resources to L2 teachers’ adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in their teaching practices. Data were collected from 27 L2 teachers through an open-ended questionnaire and a narrative frame and analyzed using content analysis. The findings revealed that personal resources, such as technological self-efficacy, AI literacy, openness to innovation, and resilience, can significantly affect L2 teachers’ AI adoption. Job resources, including institutional support, availability of efficient tools, and professional development opportunities, can also exert a direct impact on teachers’ willingness to embrace AI. The study contributes to the understanding of how these resources interact to shape L2 teachers’ engagement with AI and offers practical implications for educational institutions seeking to enhance AI adoption among their educators.

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Author Biographies

Professor Yan Wu, School of English Education, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China

Yan Wu is Professor of English Education and Teaching at the School of English Education, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), Guangzhou, China. She is the dean of School of English Education in GDUFS, a member of the Guangdong Provincial "New Normal Teaching Guidance Committee", an executive council member of the Higher Education Society of Guangdong Education Association, and a member of the TESOL Expert Committee in China, dissertation review expert for the Ministry of Education in China. Her research interests are English education, English teacher development, and higher education pedagogy.

Professor Ali Derakhshan , Golestan University (Iran) (Corresponding author)

Ali Derakhshan is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the English Language and Literature Department, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran. He is currently a Yunshan Chair Professor at the School of English Education, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), Guangzhou, China. As authenticated by the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) Database, Clarivate Analytics shows his name among the world’s top 1% of scientists in 2024. His name appeared in Stanford University’s list of the world’s top 2% of most influential scientists in 2022, 2023, and 2024. His research interests are positive psychology, teacher education, learner individual differences, cross-cultural interpersonal factors in educational psychology, technology in language education, and intercultural communication.

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FUNDING INFORMATION:

This work was supported by the General Project of Guangdong Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning 2022, entitled ‘Empirical Research on the Impact of Government-sponsored Overseas Study on the Professional Development of University Teachers: A Case Study of Guangdong Province’ (Grant number: GD22CJY10).