Investigating the Promises and Perils of Generative AI in EFL Learning in Higher Education: A Literature Review

In most disciplines, especially education, the spread of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has been a hot topic. Since OpenAI launched ChatGPT (generative pre-trained transformer) in 2022, GenAI has garnered worldwide interest; as a result, the advent of GenAI has had significant applications for a number of fields, including language instruction. The teaching and learning of English as a foreign language (EFL) in higher education could be greatly improved by GenAI. This narrative review provides an overview of GenAI’s background, its promising future, and functions in assisting English language learners, after which the difficulties that EFL students may have when using GenAI in their learning process are presented. Finally, the review presents findings on the benefits and limitations of GenAI, followed by a discussion of its implications. This study aims to equip EFL instructors and learners with the knowledge needed to leverage GenAI effectively, fostering more successful and interesting learning environments.