AI-Empowered English Speaking Teaching and Learning: A Scoping Review of Chinese Core Journal Studies (2022–2026)

Generative AI in African Higher Education: A Systematic Review of Opportunities, Ethical Challenges, and Institutional Readiness

Despite Generative AI (GenAI) is transforming higher education globally, its implications for access, inclusion, personalized learning, assessment, and research productivity in African higher education institutions (HEIs) remain underexplored. This review synthesizes empirical evidence on how African HEIs are adopting GenAI, highlighting key opportunities, ethical challenges, and levels of institutional preparedness. We searched six academic databases, including Education Source Ultimate, Web of Science, Academic Search Ultimate, ERIC, APA PsycINFO, and Humanities Search Ultimate for peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers published in English between 2022 and 2025. Out of the 110 records, 82 were screened after 28 duplicates were removed. We conducted full-text reviews on 51 eligible articles and 39 met the inclusion criteria. Our findings indicate that GenAI adoption in African HEIs is expanding but uneven, concentrated in digitally advanced nations, enhancing personalization, multilingual learning, and research productivity, yet raises ethical concerns about academic integrity. We recommend that institutions integrate GenAI literacy into faculty development and curricula and that policymakers prioritise governance frameworks that balance innovation and ethics.

Generative AI-Assisted Academic Writing in Higher Education EFL Contexts: A Critical Review of Learning Outcomes, Self-Regulated Learning, and Ethical Governance

GenAI’s rapid proliferation has reshaped EFL academic writing, yet research remains fragmented. This review synthesizes 24 publications (2022–2026) on learning outcomes, self-regulated learning (SRL), and ethical governance. Three findings emerge: (1) positive effects on surface-level writing are confirmed but moderated by intervention duration, task complexity, learner proficiency, and evaluation methods; (2) GenAI’s impact on SRL depends on its role as a scaffold versus a substitute for learner agency, as illuminated by TAM, SCT, and SRL; (3) ethical governance is shifting from plagiarism policing to proactive AI literacy. Gaps persist in longitudinal and process-oriented designs, representation of underserved groups, and theory-driven pedagogy. The review argues that GenAI’s value cannot be judged by writing products alone but requires understanding the interplay among cognition, autonomy, and regulation. An ecologically-informed research agenda is proposed.

ENGLISH-MEDIUM INSTRUCTION IN ASIAN EFL HIGHER EDUCATION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF POLICY TRENDS, IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES, AND ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES

The expansion of English Medium Instruction (EMI) across Asian higher education has intensified post-pandemic, yet a comprehensive understanding of its implementation landscape remains limited. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, this systematic review synthesizes 15 empirical studies (2015–2025) from four academic databases to explore implementation trends, stakeholder challenges, and adaptation strategies in Asian EFL contexts. Frequency analysis revealed that linguistic difficulties were a primary barrier in 87% of the studies, pedagogical inconsistency in 60%, and language anxiety affected 53% of the combined participants. Thematic synthesis identified three core dimensions: top-down policies generating macro-micro gaps and institutional stratification; multidimensional linguistic and psychological barriers impacting engagement; and emergent adaptive strategies, including translanguaging, bilingual professional learning communities, and learner metacognition. These findings highlight that EMI is a complex educational ecosystem rather than a mere linguistic shift. This review offers a structured, geographically scoped framework for policymakers, institutions, and future researchers to improve EMI quality and equity in the region.

Understanding Chinese university’s English language communication challenges –a systematic literature review

The Effects of Inquiry-Based and Contextual Learning Strategies on English Writing Skills: A Prisma Systematic Review (2015–2025)

English writing proficiency among EFL learners in Indonesia remains below regional benchmarks, and despite growing interest in learner-centered pedagogies, there is limited synthesis comparing the effects of inquiry-based learning (IBL) and contextual teaching and learning (CTL), particularly regarding their combined impact. This study addresses this gap through a PRISMA-guided systematic literature review of empirical studies published between 2015 and 2025. Searches were conducted across major databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Taylor & Francis, yielding 35 eligible studies for analysis. A narrative synthesis complemented by a quantitative summary of comparable studies indicates that both IBL and CTL produce significant positive effects on students’ English writing performance, with a pooled effect size of approximately d ≈ 0.81 (95% CI [0.65, 0.97]), suggesting a moderate-to-large overall impact. IBL consistently enhances cognitive dimensions of writing, such as idea generation, organization, and critical thinking, whereas CTL demonstrates strong effects on engagement, contextual understanding, and learner motivation. However, direct comparative and hybrid studies remain limited, although preliminary evidence suggests additive benefits when both approaches are integrated. These findings imply that EFL teachers and curriculum designers should consider combining inquiry cycles with context-based writing tasks to simultaneously develop cognitive and affective dimensions of writing. Future research should prioritize rigorous comparative and longitudinal designs to validate the effectiveness of integrated IBL–CTL models across diverse EFL contexts.

21st-Century EFL Assessment Innovation: HOTS-Based Evaluation Instruments in an Indonesian Government-Published English Textbook

Although the distribution of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) in English language textbooks has received increasing scholarly attention, research specifically examining the cognitive profile of evaluation instruments across six language skills and Genre-Based Approach (GBA) stages in Merdeka Curriculum senior high school textbooks remains limited. This study aims to analyze the distribution of HOTS and Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS) in the Grade XI English textbook English for Change and identify gaps in its alignment with 21st-century assessment needs. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was employed, involving 211 evaluation instruments selected through total sampling across five units and six language skills. Data were collected using a structured coding sheet and analyzed through descriptive quantitative frequency analysis, followed by descriptive interpretive content analysis. The findings indicate that HOTS accounts for 58.8% of the total evaluation instruments, with Creating (C6) as the most dominant cognitive level (25.6%) and Understanding (C2) as the least represented (6.6%). Writing (77.1%) and Presenting (76.7%) show the highest HOTS proportions, whereas Listening remains LOTS-dominant (52.8%), and all End-of-Unit Reflection instruments are entirely LOTS-based (100%). These findings suggest a productively asymmetric distribution of HOTS that supports learning quality while revealing the need for stronger cognitive scaffolding in critical listening, analytical viewing, and evaluative reflection. Theoretically, this study contributes to the application of Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy in cross-skill textbook analysis and expands understanding of cognitive scaffolding within GBA-based instructional design. Practically, it provides a replicable needs-analysis framework and recommends that textbook developers, teachers, and policymakers strengthen evaluation instruments to better support 21st-century assessment in the Merdeka Curriculum. This study also opens opportunities for comparative research across Merdeka Curriculum English textbooks in Indonesia.