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Review Article
A Scoping Review of Generative AI's Dual Role as Scaffolding or Substitution in Self-Regulated Learning and Learner Autonomy in EFL Contexts
Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc
,
Nguyen Xuan Hong*
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
180-188
Received:
5 September 2026
Accepted:
15 September 2026
Published:
28 September 2026
Abstract: Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly embedded in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction, with self-regulated learning (SRL) and learner autonomy positioned as key outcomes of interest. A growing evidence base reports positive effects of GenAI on self-regulatory strategies, alongside a parallel and largely separate literature warning that GenAI use may foster dependency, cognitive offloading and the externalization of self-monitoring. This scoping review maps this apparent paradox, in which GenAI appears simultaneously as scaffolding and as substitution, across the SRL and learner-autonomy literature, with particular attention to its implications for EFL learners. Following a PRISMA-ScR-informed approach, 12 empirical and review studies published between 2025 and 2026 were thematically synthesized alongside four foundational theoretical works. As a result, four thematic clusters emerged: (1) evidence of GenAI functioning as scaffolding for SRL; (2) evidence of GenAI functioning as substitution, fostering dependency and cognitive offloading; (3) design and timing features that moderate which role GenAI plays; and (4) existing reviews and meta-analyses, together with their methodological limitations. Across clusters, a consistent pattern emerges, in that nearly all studies rely on short-term or cross-sectional designs, and several recent reviews explicitly call for research measuring learners’ delayed, unsupported performance so as to distinguish durable internalization from temporary dependency. No identified study has applied a longitudinal design incorporating a structured AI-withdrawal phase to directly test this distinction among EFL learners. This review argues for such a design and outlines its theoretical and methodological implications for Vietnamese EFL contexts.
Abstract: Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly embedded in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction, with self-regulated learning (SRL) and learner autonomy positioned as key outcomes of interest. A growing evidence base reports positive effects of GenAI on self-regulatory strategies, alongside a parallel and largely separate lit...
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Review Article
Generative AI-Mediated Feedback and L2
Grammatical-Lexical Development: A Scoping Review of Longitudinal Research Gaps
Le Thi Thuan An,
Nguyen Xuan Hong*
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
189-198
Received:
9 September 2026
Accepted:
18 September 2026
Published:
30 September 2026
Abstract: The rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT in second language (L2) writing instruction has produced a fast-growing body of research on AI-generated written corrective feedback. Two recent scoping reviews have mapped this literature broadly, focusing on feedback quality, learner uptake and pedagogical integration. However, neither review specifically examined how this literature treats grammatical and lexical development as distinct, measurable constructs, nor how it addresses the moderating role of learner proficiency over time. This scoping review synthesizes 30 empirical and methodological sources, identified through a targeted, PRISMA-ScR-informed search of Google Scholar, Scopus-indexed journal content and ERIC, together with citation networks, to map the state of longitudinal research on generative-AI-mediated feedback and grammatical-lexical development in L2/EFL writing. The review finds that most intervention studies remain limited to a single semester or shorter, that grammatical accuracy and lexical development are rarely measured as separate, co-tracked outcomes and that only a small number of very recent studies (2025-2026) have applied longitudinal growth-modelling techniques, none of which disentangle grammar from vocabulary or systematically test proficiency level as a moderator of developmental trajectories. No such study appears to have been conducted in the Vietnamese EFL context, based on the sources identified in this review. The review proposes a research agenda for longitudinal, multi-proficiency-level, construct-differentiated research on generative-AI-mediated feedback and outlines implications for instructional design and future primary research.
Abstract: The rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT in second language (L2) writing instruction has produced a fast-growing body of research on AI-generated written corrective feedback. Two recent scoping reviews have mapped this literature broadly, focusing on feedback quality, learner uptake and pedagogical integra...
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Review Article
Generative AI-Mediated Speaking Practice and Intercultural Communicative Competence in EFL Contexts: A Scoping Review of the Literature (2022-2026)
Do Ngoc Lan,
Nguyen Xuan Hong*
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
199-209
Received:
27 August 2026
Accepted:
7 September 2026
Published:
30 September 2026
Abstract: Speaking is widely regarded as the most challenging skill for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has rapidly become a prominent resource for oral practice, while a parallel but largely separate strand of research has examined how artificial intelligence (AI)-mediated tools contribute to intercultural communicative competence (ICC). This scoping review maps the evidence base at the intersection of GenAI-mediated speaking practice, oral fluency and ICC, with particular attention to the underrepresented Vietnamese EFL context. Following a PRISMA-ScR-informed approach, 17 empirical and review studies (2022-2026) were thematically synthesized into four clusters, namely GenAI and oral fluency, GenAI and affective-communicative outcomes, AI-mediated ICC and Vietnam-specific studies, alongside three foundational theoretical works. Findings show that GenAI-mediated speaking practice consistently improves short-term fluency, willingness to communicate and speaking anxiety; that AI-mediated interaction can support ICC development when paired with reflective, culturally responsive pedagogy, though this evidence remains preliminary; and that the Vietnamese literature, while fast-growing, is small and methodologically narrow, with no study yet examining ICC outcomes. Critically, no identified study combines a longitudinal design with simultaneous measurement of oral fluency and ICC within a single GenAI-mediated speaking intervention, opening a worthwhile direction for doctoral-level research. This review argues for such an integrated research agenda, situates it within Sociocultural Theory, the Interaction Hypothesis and Byram's ICC model and outlines its theoretical, methodological and pedagogical implications for the Vietnamese higher-education context.
Abstract: Speaking is widely regarded as the most challenging skill for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has rapidly become a prominent resource for oral practice, while a parallel but largely separate strand of research has examined how artificial intelligence (AI)-mediated tools contribute to inte...
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