Online Archive of University of Virginia Scholarship
Generative AI in Bilingual Education: A Case Study of Dual Language Elementary Teachers’ GenAI Integration, Practices, Perceptions, and Agency175 views
Author
Flores-Curley, Mandy, Education - School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia
Advisors
Chang-Bacon, Chris, ED-CISE, University of Virginia
Abstract
This dissertation investigated how three dual language (DL) elementary teachers integrated generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools into their instruction. It discusses the important factors that shaped decisions regarding if and how this new tool could be used in their practice. This qualitative case study included teacher semi-structured interviews, real-time classroom observations, and artifact collection of GenAI materials and teacher prompts within a ten-week period. Theoretically, this study relied on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) and Teacher Agency theory (Priestley et al., 2015) to explore how teachers navigated their use of GenAI within their practice. The research questions that served as the impetus for this study were threefold: (1) How do participating dual language elementary teachers use GenAI tools in their instruction to support their multilingual students? (2) What are teachers’ perceptions of GenAI, and does it change after using GenAI for a semester? and (3) What are the perceived effects of GenAI for students and for the teachers themselves?
The findings in this study suggest that elementary dual language teachers approached GenAI as an instructional assistant and remained positioned as the authority in their teaching. They exercised limited use of the GenAI tools only when it saved them time to complete tasks they could already do on their own, only if it met their expectations of quality work, and only if they were able to verify that it was factual and correct. Overall, the teacher participants found GenAI to be most useful during their planning times but largely impractical for real-time use and during class. These findings contribute to the research by extending the body of literature regarding GenAI tools in multilingual education and have implications for teacher professional development within bilingual and dual language program design.
Flores-Curley, Mandy. Generative AI in Bilingual Education: A Case Study of Dual Language Elementary Teachers’ GenAI Integration, Practices, Perceptions, and Agency. University of Virginia, Education - School of Education and Human Development, PHD (Doctor of Philosophy), 2026-04-24, https://doi.org/10.18130/5wjb-4273.
