HEIS Newsletter - February 2022 (Plain Text Version)

Yes	40	73%
No	14	25%
Uncertain	1	2%

5. If you chose "uncertain" for your last answer, please explain.

Only one student answered “uncertain.” The stated reason was:

• “Depending on how AI is used, it may not be helpful to learn.”

6. The year is 2031. Your university has given you access to an AI teaching assistant that is available on all your smart devices. The AI knows your strengths and weaknesses. It can help you practice vocabulary, grammar, listening, reading, and writing. In addition, it can provide you with virtual scenarios to practice speaking skills in a holographic environment. At such a university, what role do you see for teachers?

This was by far the most interesting question for me because it challenged the common notion that there will always be a role for English language teachers in the classroom.

Of the 55 students who responded to the survey, 50 wrote answers to this question.

To make better sense of the responses, I categorized them according to theme and counted the responses that fit that theme.

No role for teachers	3	6%
Teachers assist the AI	7	14%
Teachers teach speaking	16	32%
Teachers offer emotional support	7	14%
Teachers teach more than languages	6	12%
Teachers tutor students individually	3	6%
Other	8	16%
Total	50	100%

I was intrigued by the variety of answers I received on the survey.

At least 3 students believed that there would be no role for human teachers in the future.

• “Nothing role for teachers.”
• “I think that teachers won’t be needed in this future.”

At least 7 students believed that the role of teacher would be to assist the AI.

• “AI record monitoring and decision of the final grade.”
• “I think the role of teachers is to teach what students don’t understand using AI, and to help students so that they are not addicted to AI technology.”
• “The teacher gonna be checking pronunciation robot.”

Many students (16) believed that teachers will focus more on speaking skills.

• “To grow up the communication skill adaptably to the situation.”
• “I think it has a role in real life conversation and contact.”
• Another theme (7 students) was emotional support.
• “At such a university, I believe that teachers play an important role in building trust-based relationships with students.”
• “Unlike AI, teachers have emotions, so they can consult with us.”
• “Smile.”

And perhaps my favorite one-word answer:

• “Love”

Another theme was teaching other than languages (6 students). One can think of this as the “liberal arts-ization” of language teaching.

• “I think it has a role to teache morals.”
• “I think that teachers' roles are teaching not only languages, but also cultures. In addition, teachers can tell way to learn languages.”
• “They will teach students about critical thinking by discussions or presentations.”

Answers also included the idea that teachers would be able to focus their efforts on individual students, or tutor students individually (3 students).

• “I think the teacher can understand which field is weak for each student.”

Finally, there were 8 responses that were hard to classify.

These responses included one comment that supported the introduction of AI because it would eliminate burdens on teachers.

• “Actually, it must be tough to teach many students the same amount of work that teacher now do. I can find better roles for teacher. “

But perhaps the best answer was one that mirrored my own bewilderment in response to improving technology.

• “Tell me in detail.”

Discussion of Results

Given my various teaching experiences in Japan, I was not surprised that so many students did not have apps (I don't use a language learning app: 35%) or that students who did have apps spent so little time using them (Less than 1 hour: 36%). Despite the availability of useful language learning technologies, I have found that Japanese students and teachers are slow adopters. However, as this survey has also found, students would gladly use these technologies if they were free, cheap, and could match or improve on the skill of a human teacher (76%).

In my own experience, language learning apps are used most when they are made an official part of the curriculum and incorporated into grading.

What was most interesting for me were the insights from the last question of the survey, where students were asked to imagine a fictional classroom ten years from now. The variety of responses I received from students mirrored the range of my own hopes and anxieties about the future. The insights also mirrored the insights of scholars such as Baldwin (2020) and Harari (2018). These scholars believe that while entire job categories might not be eliminated, the amount of useful work in many job categories will shrink. In addition, needs that are currently considered on the fringe of professions will grow. It is my personal belief that language teachers, especially at universities, will need to learn how to teach courses more commonly found in the liberal arts curriculum (culture, critical thinking, current affairs). Moreover, teachers will still be valued for their ability to care: they can provide community and emotional support to students.

What was also interesting was the balance of techno-optimism with techno-pessimism. At least some students believed that new technologies would be a blessing to teachers, unshackling them from tedious tasks. While others believed they would eliminate jobs altogether.

Conclusion - Between Techno-Optimism and Techno-Pessimism

As someone steeped in the tradition of cyberpunk, I am always on guard for the second, third, fourth, and nth-order effects of the creations of techno-optimists. A techno-optimist might look to a future where all homework and posts are automatically graded, AI teaching assistants target student weaknesses to ever finer degrees, and classroom time is devoted to solving human problems and creating stronger bonds between people. The optimist might look to the future and see teachers unburdened by the tedium of minor tasks.

However, the techno-pessimist in me has already seen some of the dystopic future in our present: teachers and administrators with unequal training and access to technology; large amounts of classroom and office hours devoted to trouble-shooting technical problems; the replacement of full-time and part-time teachers with technology; and higher learning contributing to rampant smartphone addiction.

Between techno-optimism and techno-pessimism, I remain cautious but hopeful.

As my short survey research has found, at least some students see a role for human teachers that includes the most human elements: trust-building, mentorship, and the communication of meaningful content.

Humans will still be needed in the classroom...at least for a little while longer.

References

Baldwin, R. (2020). The Globotics Upheaval: Globalization, Robotics, and the Future of Work. Oxford University Press.

Ciupa, M. (2017). Is AI in Jeopardy? The Need to Under Promise and Over Deliver - The Case for Really Useful Machine Learning. Computer Science & Information Technology, 7 (4), 59-70. https://airccj.org/CSCP/vol7/csit76607.pdf

Harari, Y. N. (2018). Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. Harper Perennial.

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Daniel Clausen has taught ESL, English composition, and other courses in the United States, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. He has also conducted research in the field of International Relations. His work has appeared in The Diplomatic Courier, e-IR, East Asia Forum, and The Korean Journal of International Studies, among other journals and magazines. He currently works as an English language instructor for Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies in Japan.