Integrating AI in Subject Teaching for Metacognition Development of Students: Descriptive Essay Writing Chatbot for In-service Chinese Language Teachers

Abstract

This study designed a subject-specific AI chatbot for
teaching descriptive essay writing for in-service primary
school Chinese language teachers in Hong Kong. The
intervention aimed to enhance teachers' Technological
Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK), metacognition,
AI literacy, and self-efficacy in AI-integrated teaching
through two two-hour workshops with hands-on activities
using a customised AI chatbot. A paired-sample t-test was
used to analyse pre- and post-workshop survey data, with
102 valid responses for TPACK and metacognition, and 127
for AI literacy and self-efficacy. Before analysing the
results, a reliability analysis was conducted to confirm
the validity of the survey instruments used to measure
TPACK, metacognition, AI literacy, and self-efficacy.
Results showed statistically significant improvements in
pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), technological content
knowledge (TCK), overall TPACK, metacognition, AI literacy,
and self-efficacy (p < 0.001), while content knowledge (CK)
remained unchanged, likely due to teachers' pre-existing
proficiency in subject knowledge. This research advances
TPACK-based teacher professional development (TPD) by
demonstrating that subject-specific, interactive
interventions effectively foster teachers' TPACK competency
and underlying skills, highlighting the potential of
subject-knowledge-customised TPD for sustainable AI
integration in language education. This study contributes
to the design of TPD in integrating AI in language
education for the development of students' metacognition.