Presentation Multimodal Apprenticeship with GenAI Chatbots: ESL Learners’ Reflections on Vlog-Based English Oral Communication more

Short-form video production and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools are reshaping how learners compose, perform and refine multimodal texts. While vlogs and GenAI chatbots have individually gained traction in language education, little is known about how learners experience these tools together as part of a multimodal apprenticeship. This study examines the written reflections of Malaysian ESL undergraduates after completing a vlog-based English oral communication project that utilised generative AI (GenAI) chatbots as optional support tools. Thematic analysis of 34 reflections revealed how learners used chatbots to brainstorm ideas, draft scripts, refine storylines and receive guidance in editing and production. The findings demonstrate how learners engaged with multimodal compositional processes from planning, scripting, filming, and editing while developing autonomy, confidence and technical competence. Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT) and zone of proximal development (ZPD), the analysis shows how GenAI chatbots functioned as cognitive scaffolds and co-creators. It supports the element in the underpinning theories supporting autonomy, competence and relatedness. While peer and human examples remained central sources of modelling. Learners valued vlogging as a space for self-expression and identity work, yet challenges were reported in relation to AI accuracy, time and technical constraints.