Exploring the Potential and Challenges of ChatGPT in Language Education: An Investigation into Student Teachers’ Critical Thinking, Interactions and Activity Design

The introduction of the revolutionary generative AI tool named ChatGPT has raised some concerns in numerous fields, including language education. Despite harsh criticism, ChatGPT is expected to remain a strong presence. Hence, it is important to involve students as well as teachers in harnessing AI tools in order to support teaching and learning. So far, various researchers have tried to utilise ChatGPT to discover its limits and potentialities. However, little is known about its application in designing classroom activities for language learners, its usefulness for language students and educators, and its effect on students’ critical thinking skills. This exploratory research investigates the utility of ChatGPT in designing Task-Based Language Learning (TBLL) activities, the extent to which ChatGPT affects student teachers’ critical thinking skills and the ways student teachers interact with the AI chatbot. To explore these research areas, a mixed-method approach was applied. After having examined the data collected from an online questionnaire, some online interviews, interactions with ChatGPT and TBLL activities, some insights emerged from the outcomes. Firstly, findings confirmed that the participants could create the same or a better quality TBLL activity and save time with the help of ChatGPT. Secondly, evidence revealed that about half of the student teachers copied the outputs given by ChatGPT to perform the TBLL activity. Thirdly, outcomes underlined some difficulties the student teachers encountered when interacting with ChatGPT. Based on the results obtained, some potential solutions and proposals for future research regarding the application of ChatGPT in language education have been provided.