EFL students' and teachers' perceptions of the ethical uses of AI tools

The use of AI tools in second language (L2) education has sparked substantial debate in recent years. Amidst these discussions are ethical considerations for L2 learners to determine when and how to integrate AI into their language learning experiences responsibly. Addressing this query holds considerable implications, potentially impacting teaching approaches, materials development, and assessment methods. Therefore, capturing the ethical perspectives of learners and teachers is imperative to establish robust pedagogical practices. This study aimed to initiate a dialogue on the ethical utilization of AI tools in an EFL learning environment, heeding De Costa's (2024) call for caution against having a "one-size-fits-all approach to ethics executed from a top-down stance" (p. 3). The present study evaluates three hypothetical scenarios depicting fictional students using generative AI tools in their EFL coursework. These scenarios explicitly mention whether the students acknowledged their tool usage. The scenarios were presented via an online survey to 543 first-year students and 16 teachers at a national university in Japan. Participants assessed each scenario using a Likert scale ranging from 1 (completely unethical) to 4 (completely ethical). An analysis of the ratings revealed that students and teachers have differing perspectives from each other on what constitutes ethical and appropriate utilization of AI tools in their academic work. The paper culminates with a discussion that elucidates L2 learners' viewpoints on the ethical integration of AI tools within an educational context.