Integrating Empathy into AI-Supported EFL Pedagogy
Keywords:
Humanizing Education, Empathy-Based Pedagogy, AI-Supported EFL Learning, Digital Humanizing Framework, Human-Centered InnovationAbstract
This conceptual paper proposes a comprehensive framework aimed at integrating empathy-based strategies into AI-supported English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction. This is part of a broader agenda to humanize digital learning. Although digital tools and artificial intelligence have expanded opportunities for efficient and personalized language learning, there is a risk that their use can create classroom environments that are transactional, emotionally distant, and dehumanized. To address this challenge, this library research synthesizes various theories, including humanizing pedagogy (Freire, 1970), care ethics (Noddings, 2005), social-emotional learning, digital pedagogy, and AI-assisted language learning. The result is a "Seven-Step Digital Humanizing Framework" that outlines practical, empathy-centered strategies. These strategies can be applied by teachers when designing, mediating, and assessing EFL learning that uses digital technologies. These steps include awareness building, empathetic task design, humanized teacher presence, supportive AI integration, reflective social-emotional learning tasks, dialogic feedback, and ethical AI use. This framework demonstrates that AI and digital tools can support not replace human connection. This can occur if the technology is used intentionally to enhance emotional safety, learner agency, and dialogic engagement. This research provides a theoretical contribution by bridging humanistic education principles with contemporary AI-driven EFL practices. Practically, this study offers actionable guidance for teachers seeking to implement human-centered innovation.
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