Beyond words: L2 writing teachers’ visual conceptualizations of ChatGPT in teaching and learning

Since its inception, ChatGPT has been characterized by L2 writing teachers with various metaphors, such as a tool and a collaborator. Complemented with text-based metaphorical conceptualizations, this research brief contributes ten visual conceptualizations of ChatGPT in L2 writing pedagogy from L2 writing teachers who teach in US higher education. Four themes emerged from our analysis of these visual conceptualizations: ChatGPT as a (1) tool, (2) resource, (3) threat, and an (4) unknown entity. The visualizations help tease out the intricacies involved in the use of metaphorical representations of ChatGPT and provide a multidimensional picture of L2 writing teachers' perceptions and attitudes towards the use of ChatGPT in L2 writing classrooms. This report concludes with an overview of the potential implications of applying visual metaphorical conceptualizations of ChatGPT to educational settings, such as raising L2 student writers' awareness and fostering the development of their critical digital literacy.