Moroccan Secondary School Students’ Perceptions and Attitudes toward Using ChatGPT-Assisted Feedback to Improve English Speaking Skills

Abstract

This study investigates Moroccan secondary school students’ perceptions of ChatGPT-assisted feedback in developing English speaking skills. It adopts a qualitative research design and is grounded in the need to better understand how learners in underexplored EFL contexts engage with generative AI tools for oral language development. The participants were 22 second-year Baccalaureate students (aged 17–18) from a public secondary school in Sidi Bennour, Casablanca-Settat region, selected purposively based on prior experience using ChatGPT during a classroom-based intervention. Data were collected through two focus group discussions conducted in classroom settings and facilitated in English and Moroccan Arabic (Darija). The discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and translated into English. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-step framework, with an inductive coding approach. The findings indicate that students perceived ChatGPT as a useful tool for enhancing speaking practice by increasing confidence, reducing speaking anxiety, and supporting idea generation and vocabulary use through interactive feedback. However, participants also expressed concerns regarding the accuracy of responses, the risk of overreliance, and the limited authenticity of human-like interaction. The study concludes that ChatGPT can serve as a supportive tool for speaking development in EFL contexts when used critically and under guided pedagogical conditions. It contributes to the growing body of research on AI-assisted language learning by providing empirical evidence from Moroccan secondary school learners.