Work

Exploring prompt iteration process through generative AI image creation in EFL vocabulary learning

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Amid the growing use of GenAI in second language education and its emerging multimodality, this study investigated how Korean undergraduates studying EFL enacted prompt iteration with a text-to-image generator to support multimodal vocabulary learning. Participants read etymology-rich word stories, sketched visualizations, and iteratively refined prompts until the images aligned with their intentions. Data included AI-generated artworks, reflective papers documenting the process, and a vocabulary learning strategies survey. Overall, learners reported high use of strategies after the task. Analysis of artworks and reflections revealed a metacognitive–strategic cycle: learners monitored and evaluated outputs, then strategically varied contextual features to negotiate meaning and achieve nuanced imagery. Framed as both a prompt-engineering technique and a literacy practice involving planning, monitoring, and evaluation, prompt iteration emerged as central to GenAI-mediated vocabulary learning, highlighting learners’ agency in exploring word meanings.

Source: IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching

DOI: 10.1515/iral-2025-0089

Authors: Yohan Hwang, Jang Ho Lee, Dongkwang Shin

Institutions: Jeonbuk National University, Chung-Ang University, Gwangju National University of Education

Language: English

Topic: Second Language Acquisition and Learning

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,712