Teaching English in the Age of AI: A Qualitative Study of Primary English Teachers’ Perceptions

Abstract

The adoption of AI tools in English language teaching has dramatically increase in recent years causing a fundamental shift to lesson planning and teaching at all levels of countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate and understand how Malaysian primary English teachers employ AI in designing and implementing lesson plans for students and describe their perceptions of the impact of AI on students. This study responds to a critical research gap by investigating the underexplored experiences of primary level teachers to whom learners’ expectations for engaging, scaffolded and contextualised learning are not the same as those of secondary and tertiary educators. Using a qualitative approach, data were gathered from six experienced primary teachers in different Malaysian schools through semi-structured interviews, observations and analysis of AI enhanced lesson plans by using checklist. The results show that teachers use AI most for producing differentiated content within the classroom as well as engaging in creative lesson planning to adapt products to local situations and learner diversity yet emphasise the importance of teacher guided implementation for pedagogical and cultural relevance. Participants reported that it also improves lower proficiency students’ engagement, motivation and confidence to learn. It also indicated the importance of continuous professional development of AI literacy. The research highlights opportunities such as better efficiency, equity and more personalisation as well as challenges such as the reliability of AI generated content and the risk of relying too much on them. In conclusion, teacher agency, prompt engineering and reflective practice are the keys to the effective integration of AI in primary English classroom.