Abstract:
The global ELT industry often emphasizes literary texts rooted in British
culture, which can pose significant comprehension challenges for students in
post-colonial contexts such as Sri Lanka. Although the prescribed literary texts
in the Sri Lankan A/L syllabus include selections from world literature, most
of these works originate from British and American contexts. These literary
texts rooted in British and American culture, pose significant comprehension
challenges for students in local classrooms. The cultural nuances embedded
in poems, short stories, novels and dramas often remain alien to the students,
creating a disconnect that hampers engagement and understanding of the
prescribed texts fully, resulting in low performances in responding to them.
Close observations of classroom teaching, along with questionnaires and
interviews conducted with learners and teachers, revealed that local students
showed little interest, as the culturally bounded elements alienated them.
This research study, therefore, sought to fill this cultural divide by integrating
literature with AI technologies particularly the ChatGPT image generation
capability to enhance contextual understanding and promote a decolonized
approach to teaching literature. Conducted with ten literature teachers from
the Kurunegala district, the research involved training them to incorporate
AI-generated illustrations into their lessons. The study catered to 55 students
who offered Literature as a subject for A/L. These AI-produced visuals served
as cultural mediators, helping students bridge the gap between unfamiliar
literary settings and their own lived experiences. Classroom observations,
teacher reflections, and student feedback revealed that AI-generated
imagery facilitated contextualization by visually representing abstract and
foreign concepts, making literary themes and settings more accessible.
Furthermore, it enabled students to reimagine texts beyond their colonial
frameworks, fostering deeper engagement and critical discussion. The
findings highlight AI’s potential as a pedagogical tool that not only enhances
literary comprehension but also promotes interaction, learner autonomy,
critical thinking and creativity. Classroom observation, feedback forms,
questionnaires and interviews were the main data collection tools, and the
data was analysed using thematic analysis. These insights affirm that AI-assisted visualizations can serve as a decolonizing
strategy, empowering Sri Lankan students to engage with English literature
beyond its traditional Eurocentric framing.
