Position Statements

AI Guidelines for the ELT Professional

by TESOL International Association |

Suggested Guidelines for Researchers

  1. Disclose uses of AI in research design, data analysis, and reporting to maintain scholarly integrity.
  2. Safeguard participant data and obtain informed consent when AI tools process personal information to ensure ethical data practices.
  3. Critically evaluate AI tools for cultural, linguistic, and racial biases to prevent perpetuating inequities and biases in research outcomes.
  4. Examine how AI influences language acquisition, teacher identity, and learner autonomy, and report on these implications. 
  5. Remain informed about evolving AI ethics and TESOL standards through continuous professional development.

Suggested Guidelines for Graduate Students & Pre-Service Teachers

  1. Practice purposeful integration by using AI as a supportive resource for lesson planning and feedback.
  2. Cultivate an understanding of AI’s capabilities, limitations, and ethical considerations to make informed pedagogical decisions.
  3. Uphold academic honesty by properly attributing AI-generated content and maintaining originality of your work.
  4. Critically reflect on how AI integration aligns with TESOL principles and impacts learner engagement.
  5. Commit to equity and access by ensuring that AI use does not create technological barriers, promoting inclusive and equitable learning environments. 

Suggested Guidelines for Programs, Institutions, Organizations, and Policy Makers

  1. Advance policies that ensure human oversight and pedagogical decision-making in the effective and ethical implementation of AI in the education process.
  2. Provide ongoing discipline-specific professional development for teachers on responsible and effective AI integration in English language teaching.
  3. Ensure equitable access to AI tools, including consideration of device availability, connectivity, accessibility and global learning contexts.
  4. Identify, monitor and address potential linguistic, cultural and systemic biases in AI systems.
  5. Implement robust data privacy and protection measures for AI-assisted learning platforms.
  6. Maintain an academic honesty policy that explicitly addresses AI use, and provide age-and level-appropriate versions of these policies to teachers for use with their students and students’ families. 

Suggested Guidelines for Faculty

  1. Stay informed about AI capabilities and limitations as they relate specifically to language teaching and learning.
  2. Revise course policies to clearly articulate expectations regarding AI use, including:
    • Specific assignments where AI is permitted or prohibited,
    • Approved uses of AI (e.g., brainstorming, proofreading, inspiration), and
    • Expectations for disclosure or citation practices for AI-assisted work.
  3. Consider whether to integrate AI tools, and if so, determine how you will use those tools to enhance or supplement, not replace, human interaction and instruction.
  4. Re-envision assessment practices to evaluate skills that AI cannot replicate, focusing on critical thinking, creativity, interactive competence, and authentic language production.
  5. Engage students in ongoing, level-appropriate discussions about AI, academic honesty, plagiarism, and ethics, including how AI systems are constructed and trained.

Suggested Guidelines for Learners

  1. Adhere to instructor guidelines on AI use and maintain academic integrity.
  2. Use AI as a supplementary or supportive tool to enhance language skills, not as a replacement for learning through the expert guidance of experienced teachers. AI output should not replace student work.
  3. Critically evaluate AI-generated content for accuracy, appropriateness and potential bias.
  4. Disclose AI use in all work (citation or other disclosure, as required in course policies).
  5. Use AI ethically, avoiding ways it could harm or misrepresent others.

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