Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Teaching and Learning of Foreign Languages: Insight from a Public University

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools and applications are transforming human endeavours, including higher education. These applications and tools are changing language education in higher education. Although some studies have investigated how generative AI technologies influence teaching and learning in higher education, many studies have focused on the contexts of the Global North. Little work has been done on how AI as a form of communication innovation is changing teaching and learning dynamics in higher education in the Global South, especially Africa and Ghana. The few studies on AI in higher education institutions in Ghana have not explored how these technologies are transforming the teaching and learning of foreign languages in public universities. This study attempts to address this gap and contributes to the literature on this topic by exploring how lecturers and students at the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the University of Education, Winneba, in Ghana use AI applications and tools to enhance their academic, teaching and learning activities. This qualitative research conducts interviews with foreign language lecturers and focus group discussions with students to ascertain their AI usage, applications and motivations, which drive their appropriation in academic, teaching and learning activities. The study draws conclusions from the data collected and analysis to contribute to the knowledge and literature on AI in language education, an understudied area in research in Ghana, owing to the novelty of these technologies and applications. The study makes recommendations on how foreign language lecturers and students in public universities can integrate and improve the use of AI in the teaching and learning of languages. It also highlights the limitation of the study and provides suggestions for future research on the topic.