Human-Centered Approaches to Promoting Democratic Values in EFL Classrooms

The recent advancement of classroom practices after COVID-19 with digital communication, including AI chatbots, has sparked a renewed interest in exploring humanistic elements within classrooms. While the topic of AI generative chat is relatively new (launched in Nov 2022), seminal literature needs to be established. However, concerns have emerged about these technologies' potential consequences on authentic human communication. This review emphasizes the importance of maintaining human connections in educational settings, highlighting core democratic values guiding our classroom practices. An in-depth systematic mapping of literature defined by Creswell (2014) exploratory literature review guidelines was employed here to find available literature on major recurring themes and their interconnectedness through systematic mapping. It identifies the educational democratic philosophy founded by John Dewey, arguing for prioritizing creating and preserving the human-to-human interaction in the EFL classroom. Findings urged the need for classroom interventions to accommodate technological advances framed with democratic precepts and humanistic upbringing so that EFL classrooms remain exciting spaces for language learning, democratic engagement, and active participation.