Generative AI in Second Language Vocabulary Learning: Learners’ Experiences of Human–AI Interaction

Abstract

Situated at the intersection of second language acquisition and human–AI interaction, this qualitative study explores how English language learners experience “generative AI as a resource for second language” vocabulary learning. “Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-two adult male Arabic-speaking English-as-a-second-language learners” (aged 18–35) at intermediate to upper-intermediate proficiency levels, recruited from three public universities in “Saudi Arabia”. Data were analysed thematically using an inductive–deductive approach informed by sociocultural theory and technology-mediated language learning frameworks, complemented by non-parametric quantitative descriptors of coded segments (Kruskal–Wallis, Spearman correlations, chi-square, and bootstrap confidence intervals). Five overarching themes emerged: (i) personalised and on-demand mediation of lexical input; (ii) affective benefits including increased confidence and reduced anxiety; (iii) evolving dialogic strategies and prompt-craft as a new form of learner agency; (iv) concerns regarding accuracy, over-reliance, and diminished human interaction; and (v) reconfiguration of the learner–tool–teacher relationship. The frequency of GenAI use per week and the complexity of prompts at the CEFR levels was significantly different for each level (p < .05), “and there was a moderate correlation between prompt-craft” and weekly use (ρ = .68, p < .001). For some learners, generative AI had helped them more to engage with the context of words, their collocations and their pragmatic aspects when using this technology; they expressed concerns about its accuracy and overuse. Overall, the results not only join the discourse surrounding the implications of conversational AI on L2 learner agency, learner autonomy, and L2 identity but also provide practical implications for curriculum designers, teachers, and builders of L2 curriculum tools that apply AI in the Saudi Arabian and wider Arab EFL context.