Many English teachers are interested in using ChatGPT for writing instruction. They believe it can help students find grammar problems, improve vocabulary, and revise their essays. AI can also give feedback quickly, which is useful when teachers have many students.
However, teachers do not always trust AI completely. In a study involving 301 Iranian EFL teachers, researchers examined teachers’ perceptions and reported uses of ChatGPT in language teaching, writing, and written feedback. The teachers recognized several useful functions, but they also expressed concerns about accuracy, student dependence, and the need for professional control.
Teachers may worry that AI sometimes gives incorrect or unsuitable corrections. For example, an AI tool may change a sentence that is already acceptable or suggest vocabulary that does not fit the student’s meaning. Teachers may also fear that students will accept all corrections without understanding them.
For these reasons, many teachers prefer to use AI as an assistant. They want to check, change, or reject AI feedback before students receive it. Their attitude is therefore neither completely positive nor completely negative. It is careful and conditional: they support AI when it improves learning, but they still want teachers to remain responsible for final feedback.
Reference: Saeli, H., et al. (2025). Embrace or resist? EFL teachers on adopting ChatGPT as a language teaching and written feedback tool. The study explored the perceptions and reported practices of 301 Iranian EFL teachers.