IMPROVING CRITICAL THINKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING THROUGH CHATGPT: A CASE STUDY AT DONG NAI TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

Abstract

In the era of AI-assisted education, integrating generative tools into language learning offers new opportunities to foster both linguistic and critical thinking skills. This study investigates the effectiveness of using ChatGPT as a dialogic partner to enhance critical thinking among non-English major students learning a foreign language. Grounded in Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory and the concept of dialogic learning, ChatGPT was employed as a virtual interlocutor to facilitate argumentation, reflection, and inquiry. A quasi-experimental design was conducted with 346 students at Dong Nai Technology University, Vietnam, over ten weeks. The experimental group engaged in structured debates and reflective tasks with ChatGPT, while the control group followed conventional practice activities. Pre- and post-tests, along with semi-structured interviews, revealed that the experimental group achieved greater improvements in both critical thinking and language production. Qualitative findings highlighted that AI-assisted dialogue created a supportive environment that encouraged deeper cognitive engagement. These results underscore the potential of generative AI not only as a language learning aid but also as a cognitive scaffold with implications for curriculum innovation, student training, and responsible AI integration in education.