Pre-service CFL teachers’ conceptions of and attitudes toward ICT and image-GAI in Chinese teaching: A drawing perspective

This study aimed to determine the perceptions and attitudes of preservice teachers of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) toward applying information and computer technology (ICT) and image-generative artificial intelligence (image-GAI) tools in CFL teaching from the perspective of drawings. This 2-week study involved 20 preservice CFL teachers from a university in northern Taiwan. Various data were collected, including questionnaire responses and drawings (both hand-drawn and artificial-intelligence-assisted) by preservice teachers. The collected data were analyzed to determine how the experience of using image-GAI tools influenced how preservice CFL teachers perceive ICT-assisted CFL teaching, and how they perceive the potential of image-GAI tools in enhancing their creativity. The results indicated that most conceptions held by the preservice CFL teachers of ICT-assisted Chinese language teaching involved teachers and learners as the primary people involved, and that they tended to adopt a teacher-centered teaching mode. The preservice CFL teachers had positive attitudes toward using image-GAI tools in CFL teaching. However, they were more reserved regarding whether generative AI tools can promote diversity in CFL teaching and enhance the creativity of preservice teachers. The most common elements in the drawings by the preservice teachers were the activities and the people involved in CFL teaching. Two other noteworthy findings were (1) most preservice CFL teachers believed that this new technology (image-GAI tools) better reflected their understanding of ICT and CFL teaching, and (2) that their drawings indicated that having experience of using image-GAI tools influenced their perception of ICT and CFL teaching.