Fostering Intercultural Awareness and Writing Skills Through AI-Supported Activities


Zenginaloğlu K., Özçelik N.

Artificial Intelligence and Humanitarian Sciences: Modern Situations and Perspectives, Baku, Azerbaycan, Baku, Azerbaycan, 21 - 22 Ekim 2025, ss.300-302, (Özet Bildiri)

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Baku
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Azerbaycan
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.300-302
  • Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Abstract

The influence of technology intensely is felt all aspects of education in this day and age. It has also manifested itself throughout history of foreign language teaching and learning. The technology has a great potential to get together the diverse cultures. This phenomenon is within sight progressively through the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) with the language learning tools and applications in contemporary foreign language teaching. Today, AI tools could be used for written communication in the classroom with the guidance of the teachers. For this reason, they may have a significant role in both students’ academic success and intercultural awareness by contributing to the development of their foreign language writing skills due to the possibility of access to great information networks. According to the studies, that technology fosters greater intrinsic motivation in younger generations [1]. The use of dialogue-based chatbots in education has become quite widespread in our time. In this context, the studies indicate that “chatbots, now increasingly viewed as part of the foreign language learning process, have become a prominent tool for foreign language teaching” [2, 3]. The user can make a contact verbally or in writing with an automatic interlocutor such as a dialogue agent or a chatbot with a dialogue system. Therefore, it is possible to use them in foreign language teaching to develop production-based skills. For example, in acquiring writing skills, in which the development of intercultural awareness is very important, among foreign language skills, “artificial intelligence-supported chabot’s play an important role in personalising learning by adapting written production exercises to students' individual needs, thereby encouraging personalised progress” [4].

Culture and language teaching are inseparable. For this reason, how artificial intelligence tools help acquire intercultural awareness, which is a foundation for developing writing skills, and how these tools contribute to teaching culture in foreign language classes should be investigated. A review of studies on the opportunities provided by AI-assisted tools and other technologies for language learning [5, 6, 7, 8] demonstrates that these new technologies allow learners not only to perform physically, for example in writing skill write on a paper, but also to autonomously and mentally practice culturally appropriate speech and interaction at an accelerated pace.

However, given that all technologies present both advantages and drawbacks, it is necessary to determine their educational implications and investigate how they can be utilized efficiently to achieve a more effective foreign language learning process. As a consequence of globalization and technological advancements, the contemporary language learner is now compelled to not only confront with grammatical rules but also to encounter cultural norms and information. This necessitates engaging with the language to learn, internalize, and use it for genuine communication.

Therefore, within the context of French as a foreign language, this study aims to examine the impact of AI-supported activities on the intercultural awareness levels, writing skills, and academic achievement of preparatory class students learning French. This study investigates the effects of artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced activities on the intercultural awareness, writing skills, and academic achievement of students learning French as a foreign language. Employing a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test/post-test control group model, the research was conducted with preparatory class students at a public university in Ankara during the 2023-2024 academic year. Participants are the students’ French preparatory class at the university. 32 students were divided into two groups such as experimental group (17) and control groups (15). The experimental group engaged in cultural learning activities supported by the AI tool ChatGPT, while the control group followed traditional instruction on the same topics. The lessons plans were prepared by researchers in with cultural issues and AI supported activities. Data were collected with two instruments: (ı) the Intercultural Awareness Assessment Scale in Foreign Language Teaching (YDÖ-KFDÖ) which was developed by researchers based on Byram's Intercultural Communicative Competence Model [9] and The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), (ıı) weekly writing assignments, which were chosen in regard od cultural issues, scored according to DELF (Diplôme d'Études en Langue Française) criteria over seven weeks.

Statistical analyses are performed with SPSS 23. These analyses revealed that the experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in intercultural awareness, French writing skills, and academic achievement compared to the control group. The results indicate that ChatGPT-supported activities were effective in enhancing the intercultural awareness levels of students in French preparatory classes. The findings suggest that AI-supported tools, when used under teacher guidance, can serve as effective instruments in foreign language education by fostering not only linguistic competence but also crucial intercultural understanding. The findings showed that the experimental group in the class using AI-supported writing tasks achieved significantly higher scores when they compared with the results of control group in the class using the traditional writing tasks. These results expose that the students in the experimental group displayed greater improvement in their writing skills with AI-supported activities. As a result, we can conclude that ChatGPT is an effective tool for enhancing writing proficiency adding cultural awareness in their production. It has been observed also within the findings of Intercultural Awareness Assessment Scale in Foreign Language Teaching (YDÖ-KFDÖ). It is observed that AI-supported activities can enhance intercultural awareness in French preparatory classes and ChatGPT can be used as an educational tool in the classroom. The integration of artificial intelligence tools in foreign language instruction should be actively encouraged. However, it is necessary further research into the development of AI-generated materials, AI-supported communicative activities with the guidance of language teachers. It was produced from doctoral thesis researches.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Foreign Language Teaching, Intercultural Awareness, Writing Skills, ChatGPT, French.