Bridging or Breaking? A Systematic Review of How Generative AI Shapes Equity in Foreign Language Education
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14817740 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ngo Cong‐Lem (0009-0005-3299-477X, Faculty of Foreign Languages Dalat University Lamdong Province Vietnam), Chau Ngoc Van Bui (0009-0009-5164-4790, Faculty of Foreign Languages Dalat University Lamdong Province Vietnam), Nguyen Phan Nhat Nguyen (0000-0002-2016-5481, Faculty of Foreign Languages Dalat University Lamdong Province Vietnam), Minh Quang Huynh (0000-0002-4258-1697, Faculty of Education Dalat University Lamdong Province Vietnam) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-21 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Applied Linguistics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0802-6106 • E-ISSN: 1473-4192 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ijal.70052 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 41 |
This systematic review examines how generative AI (GenAI) technologies, such as ChatGPT, shape equity in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. Drawing on 22 peer‐reviewed empirical studies published between January 2023 and June 2025, selected from an initial pool of 430 records across five major databases (Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, ProQuest, and Google Scholar), the review synthesizes emerging evidence on GenAI's dual impact. Findings reveal that GenAI can bridge equity gaps by expanding access, providing personalized scaffolding, supporting multilingual and inclusive learning, and promoting teacher innovation, yet it can also widen disparities through infrastructural inequities, digital literacy divides, algorithmic bias, and English‐dominant linguistic norms. To address these tensions, the review introduces the Equity‐Positioned Implementation of AI (EPI‐AI) Framework, which conceptualizes equitable GenAI integration as systemic, relational, and contextually contingent across five interrelated domains: access and infrastructure, AI literacy, pedagogy, governance, and sociocultural responsiveness. By consolidating empirical insights through an educational justice lens, this review repositions GenAI research in EFL from tool‐focused innovation toward an evidence‐based and equity‐oriented understanding of how technology mediates inclusion, participation, and opportunity
GPT detectors are biased against non-native English writers
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Exploring dual language teachers’ experiences, perceptions and pedagogical implications of ChatGPT in emergent bilingual education
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The impact of different conversational generative AI chatbots on EFL learners
Using thematic analysis in psychology
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |