Fostering Critical AI Literacy through A Decolonial Use of ChatGPT in ESL/EFL Classrooms

This article examines the potential and risks of integrating AI tools, such as ChatGPT, into ESL/EFL classrooms from a decolonial perspective to enhance vocabulary instruction. Centering on eighteen English words from an English textbook designed for school education, the study examines how ESL/EFL vocabulary can be taught using ChatGPT to encourage students to engage with and critically reflect on its outputs. Employing the method of strategic prompting and qualitative content analysis of fifteen ChatGPT responses, the article explores how students' first languages (L1) can be meaningfully connected to English (L2) using ChatGPT as a pedagogical tool, particularly within a multilingual and multiethnic educational context. The study demonstrates that a decolonial approach to AI tools, such as ChatGPT, can enhance ESL/EFL pedagogy by promoting linguistic inclusivity and fostering critical AI literacy among students. Hence, the article contributes to the emerging conversations on decolonial ESL/EFL pedagogy and critical AI literacy by positioning AI tools, such as ChatGPT, not as a neutral source of information, but as a tool to enhance language learning in diverse linguistic contexts with a certain degree of human intervention.