Needs Analysis of Pre-Service ELT Teachers in the Context of AI-Empowered English Teaching: A Qualitative Study in China

Authors

  • Min Deng

    Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia

    School of Foreign Languages, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, China
  • Nur Ehsan Mohd Said

    Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia
  • Nur Ainil Sulaiman

    Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i10.11115
Received: 17 July 2025 | Revised: 24 July 2025 | Accepted: 1 August 2025 | Published Online: 13 October 2025

Abstract

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, its application in English Language Teaching (ELT) has become increasingly widespread. As future English teachers, graduate students majoring in English Pedagogy are a critical force in promoting AI-empowered teaching; therefore, the most preliminary and basic part to address this aim is to comprehend their perception of AI-empowered teaching. This study employs a qualitative approach to explore the attitudes and specific needs of 9 graduate students regarding AI-empowered teaching in a Chinese institution. The findings unveil that pre-service teachers generally value the potential of AI applied in ELT for differentiated learning and streamline the creation of educational materials and other skills demanded in the 21st century, upon the thematic analysis of the data set. However, the lack of systematic training and practical opportunities may hinder their progress in AI-empowered teaching; thus, they expect to be provided with curriculum guidance, skill training, and resource support to enhance their AI teaching competencies. The study suggests that institutions need to cater to their needs by integrating AI-empowered teaching modules into curricula, strengthening practical components, and fostering pre-service teachers' AI-empowered teaching capabilities. The study concluded by providing the direction for further research as expanding the sample size and employing a mixed research method to boost the generalizability of the findings.

Keywords:

Artificial Intelligence; English Language Teaching; Pre-Service Teachers; Needs Analysis; Qualitative Research

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How to Cite

Deng, M., Mohd Said, N. E., & Sulaiman, N. A. (2025). Needs Analysis of Pre-Service ELT Teachers in the Context of AI-Empowered English Teaching: A Qualitative Study in China. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(10), 1037–1049. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i10.11115

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 10 (October 2025)

Article Type

Article

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Copyright © 2025 Min Deng, Nur Ehsan Mohd Said, Nur Ainil Sulaiman

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.