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Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 17. Number 1, March 2026 Pp. 371-378
Department of Foreign Languages,
College of Arts and Humanities, Jazan University,
Jazan, Saudi Arabia
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are becoming a new social reality with a growing impact on human lives. The traditional concept of ‘social actor’ in discourse analysis does not apply to generative AI, being a non-human agent or a computational language model. The profound influence of Generative AI on public discourse requires redefining the concept of ‘social actor’ within the theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis (CDA). This conceptual article argues for framing Generative AI as a ‘social actor’, to enable critiquing its potentially biased discourse using CDA. The English as a second and foreign language (ESL/EFL) education context is used here as a case to demonstrate how learners can be empowered to use Generative AI tools wisely while not accepting AI-generated content uncritically. This study contributes to the growing research on ESL/EFL contexts that calls for addressing the negative impact of Generative AI on learners’ critical capacity.
Hamdi, S. A. (2026). Generative AI as a New Social Actor in ESL/EFL Context: A Critical Perspective. Arab World English Journal, 17(1): 371-378.
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Dr. Sami Abdullah Hamdi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages, College of Arts and Humanities, Jazan University. His research interests include critical discourse studies/analysis, text analytics, and translation studies. He has published several studies on CDA, language learning, and translation in distinguished journals.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7742-4771