From Symbolic Success to Meaningful Use: Distinct Effects of Syntax‐Focused and Meaning‐Focused AI‐Assisted English Learning on Performative and Affective Factors

ABSTRACT This study examined the distinct effects of syntax‐focused and meaning‐focused AI‐assisted English learning on learners’ performative and affective outcomes. Drawing on Searle's Chinese Room hypothesis, the study distinguished formal accuracy from meaningful language use to examine whether AI‐supported learning produced uniform or differentiated development. A quasi‐experimental pretest‐posttest design was conducted with 160 non‐English‐major university students assigned to either a syntax‐focused or meaning‐focused condition. Analyses of covariance and mediation models were applied while controlling for prior language mastery and digital literacy. The results showed that AI‐assisted English learning was effective, but its effects differed by instructional orientation. The syntax‐focused condition led to significantly higher syntactic performance, whereas the meaning‐focused condition produced higher meaning‐level performance, social presence, and willingness to communicate. Social presence showed statistically significant indirect associations between learning condition and both meaning‐level performance and willingness to communicate, but not syntactic performance. Because social presence and the outcome variables were measured at the same post‐intervention stage, these mediation findings should be interpreted as statistical rather than definitive causal evidence. These findings indicate that formal correctness and meaningful understanding are related but distinct dimensions of AI‐assisted English learning. The study highlights the importance of aligning AI‐supported instructional design with specific learning goals and suggests that cultivating social presence may be relevant for communicative competence development.