Motivation drives most human activities, including foreign language learning, and it is affected by several intrinsic and extrinsic factors. This study investigated how ChatGPT impacts learning English. A quantitative research design was used to collect data from 80 teachers and students who had access to the ChatGPT in its very beginning phase in early 2023. The sample, selected in a non-probability sampling technique, responded to an online questionnaire. Findings showed that ChatGPT generally motivates learners to develop reading and writing skills. The respondents had neutral attitudes towards the effect of ChatGPT on developing listening and speaking skills. The findings suggest that ChatGPT-based teaching is motivational. ChatGPT should be used as a learning tool instead of fearing its negative impacts, which require further detailed investigations. Further research is required to explore more advantages of ChatGPT for other aspects of the language and illuminate its negative effects to help educators reduce them in English programs.

The outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led countries to implement measures to prevent its spread. One of these measures included shutting down schools and universities. Consequently, the teaching, learning and assessment processes were entirely shifted from face-to-face to online. The current study aimed to investigate online vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) amid COVID-19 pandemic used by Saudi EFL students. It attempted to find out the online strategies Saudi EFL astudents use to get the meaning of new vocabulary, the strategies they use to study new vocabulary and the strategies they follow to revise the learned vocabulary and keep them as part of their repertoire. The sample of the study was 119 male and female English and non-English majors. The study modified Kulikova’s (2015) questionnaire. This study was conducted at the University of Bisha, Saudi Arabia, during a fully online learning period in September and October 2020 at the time of COVID-19 outbreak. The data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire form. It was distributed via teachers of the English Department. The study found out that English majors used vocabulary learning strategies more than non-English majors. It also showed that students do not ask their teachers about the meaning of new vocabulary (77%), they also do not ask their classmates (92%), nor they ask their friends (85%), which could be attributed to online study and due to social distance during coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

The outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led countries to implement measures to prevent its spread. One of these measures included shutting down schools and universities. Consequently, the teaching, learning and assessment processes were entirely shifted from face-to-face to online. The current study aimed to investigate online vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) amid COVID-19 pandemic used by Saudi EFL students. It attempted to find out the online strategies Saudi EFL astudents use to get the meaning of new vocabulary, the strategies they use to study new vocabulary and the strategies they follow to revise the learned vocabulary and keep them as part of their repertoire. The sample of the study was 119 male and female English and non-English majors. The study modified Kulikova’s (2015) questionnaire. This study was conducted at the University of Bisha, Saudi Arabia, during a fully online learning period in September and October 2020 at the time of COVID-19 outbreak. The data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire form. It was distributed via teachers of the English Department. The study found out that English majors used vocabulary learning strategies more than non-English majors. It also showed that students do not ask their teachers about the meaning of new vocabulary (77%), they also do not ask their classmates (92%), nor they ask their friends (85%), which could be attributed to online study and due to social distance during coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

This chapter is a product of the impediments to measuring ICT-based informal learning in the Saudi EFL context. It unravels difficulties of measuring the outcomes of informal English learning with a particular reference to informal technology-based activities. It succinctly discusses why it is difficult to design, develop, implement, and sustain a comprehensive approach to assessing ICT-based informal English learning outcomes. The major problems surfaced from this discussion included absence of theoretical background of this evolving mode of learning, unawareness of recognizing linguistic, and inability to control the informal ICT-based activities for they are arbitrary and difficult to expect and measure by ordinary tests. Thus, there is a need to adopt alternative assessment tools such as portfolio, progress tests, and self-reporting within a new paradigm shift towards learner-centeredness.