Challenges Faced by EFL Educators in Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Language Curricula

The current era is experiencing rapid development in Artificial Intelligence technologies in the field of education, especially foreign language learning and teaching. The present study aims to investigate the challenges faced by Kurdish EFL educators in integrating Artificial Intelligence into language curricula. The descriptive approach using quantitative methodology is employed to achieve the objectives of the study. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (27.0). Statistical tests—Descriptive statistics to describe the perceptions of the educators, independent sample t-test to compare the mean score both male and female educators, and correlation analysis to present the relationship among the categories of the of the survey questionnaire items—have been utilized to analyze the data. The findings show that educators were very concerned about the use of AI in education due to its ethicality and academic integrity. The results of the gender-based differences showed no statistical significance between male and female educators in terms of encountering challenging AI tools in language teaching curricula. Furthermore, the correlation analysis revealed a strong positive inter-correlation among the survey's sub-scale (e.g., Technological Barriers, Ethical Concerns, and Training Deficiencies). These findings could contribute insights to teachers, educators, and policymakers to consider the proper uses of AI in educational practices and set appropriate guidelines in the educational institutions.