A Phenomenological Investigation of Teacher Candidates’ Metaphorical Views on AI in Language Learning

The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in education is gaining more attention, and as a result, more research is being conducted on the views and conceptualisations of AI by educators. The understanding of teacher candidates is vital for the AI integration in education, which should be human-centred, and still, there is a lack of studies focusing mainly on teacher candidates in the field of the native language. This qualitative phenomenological research aimed to explore metaphors of 46 Turkish language teacher candidates (third- and fourth-year undergraduates in Northern Cyprus) representing their answer to the prompt “AI is like because…”. The data were collected through open-ended questions and analysed using content analysis along with expert validation. Participants produced 46 valid metaphors, which were divided into five thematic categories: (1) AI as Teacher or Learner (21.7%), (2) AI as Method/Strategy (21.7%), (3) AI as Evolving Living Organism (13%), (4) AI as Guide/Helper (21.7%), and (5) AI as Danger/Threat (21.7%). Four groups expressed positive or neutral attitudes towards AI, such as considering it a clever teacher, a useful tool, a growing entity, or a guide. One category revealed negative views, perceiving AI as a destructive force. Overall, 78.3% of participants expressed optimistic views about AI, while 21.7% of them pointed to concerns. Turkish language teacher candidates generally perceive AI as a supportive, human-like assistant in the classroom, but a few of them express concerns about its existence. These results emphasise the importance of incorporating AI literacy and ethics into teacher education. Equipping future language teachers with the skills to use AI in the classroom might be a way of implementing AI in schools that is confident, critical, and human-centred.