Investigating AI Literacy of Turkish Pre-Service EFL Teachers

This study investigates the AI literacy of pre-service EFL teachers and examines whether AI literacy differs across demographic factors (age, gender, grade level), training (informal/formal), and usage patterns (frequency and types of AI tools). Employing a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design, the study was conducted during the spring semester of the 2024–2025 academic year with 211 pre-service EFL teachers from a state university in Türkiye. Data were collected via the Turkish adaptation of the Artificial Intelligence Literacy Scale (AILS), developed by Laupichler et al. (2023) and translated by Deveci Topal et al. (2025). The findings revealed that participants had moderate to high AI literacy, with the highest scores in Critical Appraisal, moderate scores in Practical Applications, and the lowest scores in Technical Understanding. No statistical significant differences were found in AI literacy across demographic factors (age, gender, grade level) and training (informal/formal). However, participants who self-studied or engaged with YouTube videos/webinars showed significantly higher AI literacy than their counterparts. Regarding the frequency of using AI, no significant difference was found between the different groups. Regarding AI tools, participants who used writing assistants had higher AI literacy than their counterparts. The study indicates that certain informal training and AI tool types are associated with higher AI literacy; therefore, future studies should focus on these variables. Additionally, future studies with larger or more balanced samples can find different results for demographic factors, formal training, and frequency of AI use.