From Excitement to Anxiety: Exploring English as a Foreign Language Learners' Emotional Experiences in the Artificial Intelligence‐Powered Classrooms

ABSTRACT The use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in second/foreign language education has recently gained a bulk of attention. However, the emotional experiences of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in AI‐mediated classes have been ignored. To fill this gap, the present qualitative study examined 34 Chinese EFL students' perceptions of AI‐induced emotions and regulation strategies. A semi‐structured interview and a narrative frame were used to collect the data. The gathered data were thematically analysed through the latest version of MAXQDA software (v. 2023). The findings revealed that Chinese EFL students had mostly experienced positive emotions of ‘motivation’, ‘excitement’,…