EFL teachers’ attitudes toward using ChatGPT in language teaching
Keywords:
ChatGPT, EFL teachers, teacher attitudesAbstract
ChatGPT's emergence in November 2022 heralded a new era for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching, with debates on readiness, beliefs, and the applicability of the technology. This systematic literature review brings together empirical evidence on EFL teachers' perceptions of ChatGPT by reviewing its benefits, challenges, factors affecting adoption, and uses in pedagogy in various educational contexts. PRISMA 2020 guidelines were followed, and a systematic search was performed in Google Scholar for peer-reviewed studies published from 2022 to 2026. A Boolean search identified 159 records. A total of 133 records (after exclusion of 26 duplicates) were screened at the abstract level (threshold ≥4.0) and full-text level (threshold ≥4.5), resulting in 95 studies included in the thematic analysis. Overall, EFL teachers had a favorable but cautious perception of ChatGPT. Benefits included a lesser workload, instant outputs, targeted feedback, and bolstered writing instruction. Common barriers included academic dishonesty, reliance on technology, low levels of AI literacy, and difficulty with ethical limitations. Readiness for adoption was influenced by the technology’s potential usefulness, ease of use, faculty support, and professional development. Pedagogical uses included writing, feedback, lesson planning, material design and assessment. Although they acknowledged the merits of ChatGPT, the EFL teachers argued that numerous implementation barriers existed. Implementation requires quality professional development, transparency in institutional policies, and ongoing technical assistance. Future work can target (i) longitudinal adoption, (ii) comparative instructional effectiveness, and (iii) ethical frameworks for evidence-based practices.
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