AI IN LANGUAGE TEACHING: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Quick development in artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced possibilities to enhance English language teaching by personalized learning, automated feedback, and adaptive instructional support. Nonetheless, AI has been less integrated in secondary education, and those implemented are not equally effective, particularly in schools in developing countries, both public and private. This paper investigates the perceptions, practices, and challenges of AI usage in teaching English in secondary level in Pakistan with the aid of the AI-TPACK framework. The data collection was conducted using a structured questionnaire, administrative feedback, and classroom observations in one public and one private secondary school in the exploratory case study format. The results were interpreted with the help of descriptive statistics and a thematic analysis. The results state that although teachers have good pedagogical and content knowledge and, on the whole, positive attitudes toward AI, their levels of formal training and technological knowledge are moderate. The integration of AI is more likely to reinforce teaching than to revolutionize it, and the level of classroom implementation is higher in the case of private schools because of a better infrastructure and institutional backing. On the other hand, the public schools encounter significant challenges in terms of infrastructure, the absence of policies, and professional development that is not consistent. This paper finds that institutional preparedness and structural factors play a larger role in the adoption of AI than teacher attitudes alone, and recommends the need to coordinate policies, training, and infrastructure investment.