Abstract

The integration of “artificial intelligence” (AI) in L2 classrooms has garnered remarkable attention due to its potential to enhance students’ language achievements. While existing research has highlighted the implications of incorporating AI into L2 classrooms, there remains a gap in understanding how this incorporation may affect students’ achievement emotions and flow experiences. To narrow this gap, this intervention study sought to assess the influence of AI-enhanced instruction on L2 students’ positive achievement emotions, namely pride, hope, enjoyment, and their flow experiences. Furthermore, with the aid of “latent growth curve modeling” (LGCM), the study tried to track the developmental trajectory of L2 students’ positive achievement emotions and flow experiences over the course of a semester. To these aims, a large sample of 217 L2 students was recruited and randomly divided into the control or experimental groups. To measure participants’ flow and positive achievement emotions, two questionnaires were administered to them at distinct intervals throughout the intervention. The results evinced a notable enhancement in both the flow experience and positive achievement emotions of participants who were exposed to AI-enhanced instruction. This research underscores the critical role of AI-enhanced instruction in fostering students’ positive achievement emotions and flow experiences within L2 classrooms. 

Keywords: Achievement Emotions, AI-Enhanced Classrooms, Enjoyment, Flow, Latent Growth Curve Modeling

Ali Derakhshan is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the English Language and Literature Department, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran. He has been a member of the Iranian Elites Foundation since 2015. He has also been selected as a distinguished researcher by the Teaching English Language and Literature Society of Iran in 2021.  He received a distinguished researcher award in Humanities and Social Sciences from the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology in 2024. He is currently a Yunshan Chair Professor at the School of English Education, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), Guangzhou, China. As authenticated by the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) Database, Clarivate Analytics shows his name among the world’s top 1% of scientists in 2024. His name appeared in Stanford University’s list of the world’s top 2% of the most influential scientists in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. He has published in accredited international journals, including Computers and Education, Review of Educational Research, Computers in Human Behavior, Language Learning & Technology, Education and Information Technologies, Applied Linguistics, Language Teaching Research, System, Assessing Writing, Applied Linguistics Review, Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, ELT Journal, English for Specific Purposes, Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, Thinking Skills and Creativity, Current Psychology, Asia Pacific Education Researcher, European Journal of Education, Educational Studies, Pragmatics and Society, Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, Porta Linguarum, Learning and Motivation, etc. His recent monograph, Loving pedagogy in second and foreign language education: Underlying components, measurement, and ecological systems, was published by Springer in 2025. His monograph, The“5Cs” positive teacher interpersonal behaviors: Implications for learner empowerment and learning in an L2 context, was published by Springer in 2022. His co-authored book Instructed second language pragmatics for the speech acts of request, apology, and refusal: A meta-analysis was published by Springer in 2023. His research interests are educational psychology, technology in language education, teacher education, learner individual differences, and cross-cultural interpersonal factors in language education.