In an age where artificial intelligence is increasingly integrated into education, the ability to critically engage with AI tools and effectively integrate them into teaching practices has become essential for language teachers. (Kohnke & Zou, 2025).This paper presents an exploratory study of a collaborative project titled “Creating My Chatbot for Teaching and Learning EFL and Culture,” conducted with pre-service and in-service EFL teachers enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programs at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The project invited small student groups to collaboratively build AI-powered chatbots for language and culture learning, guided by a structured pedagogical framework called "LinguaBots". Depending on their level and context, students used tools such as "ChatGPT" (for prompt-based bots), "Mizou", and "Landbot "(for flow-based bots). While all participants engaged with the same underlying framework, their design pathways varied: pre-service teachers worked primarily with prompt-based prototyping, while in-service teachers engaged in more complex, flow-based design using multimodal and logic-driven platforms.

The "LinguaBots" template provided a sequence of design steps grounded in a Design Thinking approach (Fleury et al., 2016), prompting students to empathize with learners, define pedagogical goals, ideate tasks, prototype dialogue, and iterate through testing and feedback. By identifying learner needs, defining meaningful cultural and linguistic objectives, and building chatbot-based tasks, students developed both pedagogical insight and technological fluency.

The study investigates how students integrated cultural themes, language learning objectives, and multimodal elements in their chatbot flows and prompt designs. It also analyzes how students used generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) not only for content generation but also as partners in creative co-design (Holmes et al., 2022). Through reflective design and prototyping, participants engaged in a dual process of building AI literacy and evolving their instructional identities.

Findings suggest that chatbot design fostered creativity, collaboration, and critical digital literacies, while challenging students to rethink traditional instructional roles. The integration of both prompt-based and flow-based tools enabled students to explore structured and open-ended interaction models, enhancing their understanding of learner engagement. This study contributes to the growing field of AI-integrated language pedagogy by presenting a replicable, research-informed approach to empowering language teachers as designers of authentic, culturally rich, and technology-enhanced learning experiences.

References:
[1] Holmes, W., & Tuomi, I. (2022). State of the art and practice in AI in education. European Journal of Education, 57, 542–570. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12533
[2] Fleury, A. & Stabile, H.& Carvalho, M.. (2016). An Overview of the Literature on Design Thinking: Trends and Contributions. International Journal of Engineering Education. 32. 1704-1718.
[3] Kohnke, L., & Zou, D. (2025). The role of ChatGPT in enhancing English teaching: A paradigm shift in lesson planning and instructional practices. Educational Technology & Society, 28(3), 4-20. https://doi.org/10.30191/ETS.202507_28(3).

Keywords: AI in Language Education, Chatbot Design, Prompt Engineering, Design Thinking, EFL Teacher Education, Digital Pedagogy, Task-Based Language Learning.