Generative AI, the teacher's best friend? : Evaluating GenAI for creating Chinese reading comprehension materials
Casas-Tost, Helena (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
González Torrents, Isabel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Rovira-Esteva, Sara (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Vargas-Urpi, Mireia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

Date:	2026
Abstract:	This presentation investigates the efficacy of Generative AI (GenAI) in developing reading comprehension exercises for beginner-level learners of Chinese. We conducted a comparative analysis of two prominent models, ChatGPT-4o and DeepSeek-R1, employing a novel assessment tool designed to evaluate the linguistic quality, pedagogical relevance, and cost-effectiveness of both the AI-generated texts and their accompanying questions. Our findings indicate that while both systems produced outputs of broadly similar quality, native speaker evaluations gave a higher overall rating to texts from ChatGPT-4o. Crucially, both AIs demonstrated significant utility for rapidly generating base texts, offering substantial time savings with minimal required revision. However, a key limitation was identified in the systems' ability to formulate pedagogically sound reading comprehension questions, a task that still necessitates human expertise. The developed assessment tool proved highly effective in helping educators quickly identify which AI-generated materials were classroom-ready, which needed revision, and which should be rejected. In conclusion, this study underscores the dual reality of GenAI in language instruction: it is a powerful tool for efficiency, but its effective application remains dependent on professional oversight to ensure pedagogical quality.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2024-156763OB-100 European Commission 2023-1-ES01-KA220-HED-000161531
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Contribució a congrés
Subject:	Chinese as an additional language ; GenAI ; Generative artificial intelligence ; Reading comprehension ; Teaching Chinese as a foreign language
Published in:	International Conference: Teaching Chinese Language and Translation to/from Chinese at a Crossroad. Mons, Bèlgica, 2026

33 p, 1.1 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Arts and Humanities > Grup d'estudi de la literacitat en l’ensenyament i l’aprenentatge de segones llengües i traducció (GELEA2LT)
Contributions to meetings and congresses > Presentations