AI-POWERED FLUENCY: HOW MACHINE LEARNING IS TRANSFORMING ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN 2025

This paper assesses AI-powered fluency, with a specific focus on how machine learning is transforming English language teaching in the current digital era. In this paper, the dynamics of AI-powered fluency and how machine learning is transforming language pedagogy are reviewed in three dimensions using the theoretical lens of sociocultural theory. First, the evolution of technologies and how AI is transforming English language teaching is reviewed. Secondly, the impact of AI on teachers’ roles in language pedagogy in this technologically-driven era is analysed. Thirdly, the impact of AI on learners’ learning outcomes is discussed. It found that AI is bringing about data-driven assessment on a high scale, enabling real-time feedback, fostering personalised learning that meets individual learners’ needs. It is revealed that the affordances of AI have divested teachers of the role of holding the kernel of knowledge in the instructional process, and some English language teachers are threatened by this development. It is also found that AI-powered language instruction is notable for improved learners’ outcomes in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It is therefore concluded that language teachers should not perceive AI as a threat but as a helpful assistant. This paper contributes to expanding the discourse of AI within the sociocultural theory through its position that, in this era, neither the human agent (human teacher) nor the artificial agent (AI) is exclusively sufficient for building fluency in the form of pragmatic competence.