Role of artificial intelligence in enhancing English language proficiency among engineering students: opportunities, challenges, and pedagogical shifts

This study investigates the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in strengthening listening, speaking, reading and writing (LSRW) skills among undergraduate engineering students in India. Despite extensive formal schooling, many learners continue to encounter barriers in communication, largely due to limited exposure to English. Drawing upon Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, Krashen’s Input and Affective Filter Hypotheses, and Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory, the research positions AI not as a universal solution but as a context-sensitive supplement to instruction. A mixed-methods design was employed with 120 students divided equally into control and experimental groups over ten weeks. The experimental group engaged in supervised daily practice with AI tools, while the control group followed conventional textbook-based instruction. The findings revealed significant improvements in all four LSRW skills among the experimental group. Thematic analysis of student interviews highlighted increased motivation, enhanced confidence in speaking, appreciation of real-time feedback and greater learner autonomy. While the results are encouraging, the study acknowledges constraints such as novelty effects, instructor mediation, infrastructural inequities, insensitivity of AI to regional accents, risks of superficial learning and concerns over data privacy. Rather than replacing teachers, the study advocates a blended model in which AI supports rehearsal and correction, complementing human pedagogy.