Language Teachers Embrace AI Pragmatism Over Binary Thinking

A University of Ottawa survey of ESL and FSL instructors challenges the narrative that teachers either embrace or reject AI. Most respondents identified as pragmatists, recognizing generative AI's potential while awaiting stronger pedagogical evidence before full adoption. The study also revealed a hidden AI problem: instructors who claimed never to use generative AI regularly used tools like Grammarly and DeepL. Findings suggest teachers intuitively distinguish between assistive AI that refines existing work and generative AI that produces new content, reflecting deeper concerns about authorship and academic integrity.