Assessing the Efficacy of Artificial Intelligence-Enabled EFL Learning and Teaching in Saudi Arabia: Perceptions, Perspectives, and Prospects

This study attempts to investigate Saudi EFL learners’ perceptions, perspectives, and the prospects for AI-enabled learning and teaching in higher education in Saudi Arabia. As the study deals with how certain independent variables (levels of study, gender, and employment profile of learners’ parents) shape the dependent variables (perceptions, perspectives, and prospects), a quantitative approach (descriptive quantitative design) was selected, and a questionnaire was prepared with partial adoption of modified items from existing studies. A simple random sampling method was used to collect responses from 258 Saudi EFL learners studying at different levels of the undergraduate programs at the College of Business Administration and College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, KSA. The findings revealed that Saudi EFL learners were highly positive in their perceptions and perspectives toward AI-enabled learning, and they strongly favored the adoption of AI-powered tools for learning and teaching a language. It was also revealed that the Saudi higher education system offered great prospects for the integration of AI-powered technology into EFL classrooms. One-way ANOVA analysis revealed that there is no statistically significant difference among the study participants based on gender and parents’ employment profile. However, a certain difference of statistical significance was found among them based on their study levels. The study holds implications as the findings will help the course instructors and administrators for effective integrations of AI-enabled technology to equip students with effective English skills.