From prompts to pedagogy: Mapping prompt engineering in English language education

With the widespread use of generative AI tools in educational settings, prompt engineering has become increasingly important for obtaining effective and pedagogically meaningful outputs from these tools. However, research addressing prompt engineering in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pedagogy is scattered across different contexts, skill domains, and methodological approaches, highlighting the need for a synthesis of emerging evidence. Therefore, this study aims to map research conducted between 2022 and 2025 through a scoping review. Studies focusing on prompt design in the EFL context were analysed following PRISMA-ScR guidelines. The findings show that most research was conducted in Asia, with university students as participants, and qualitative/mixed-method designs were prevalent. Prompt engineering was primarily used for writing skills and research competence, promoting learner autonomy but raising concerns about cognitive load, limited teacher guidance, and academic integrity. Three key pedagogical tensions emerged: the balance between theory and practice, learner autonomy vs. cognitive load, and technical output vs. ethical filtering. The study highlights the field’s unestablished nature, emphasising the need for structured frameworks, ethics-focused research, and reliable measurement tools for assessing prompt literacy and ethical competence. It offers a roadmap for researchers, teacher educators, and institutions to address these gaps.