Incorporating AI literacy into a university professional communication English class

This exploratory classroom-based study examines how undergraduates engaged with functional, critical, and ethical AI literacy practices while completing two workplace communication tasks in a professional communication course at a Hong Kong university. A three-stage AI literacy sequence was implemented focusing on prompting skills, critical evaluation of AI-generated content, and responsible authorship. Fifty-two valid qualitative questionnaires and four semi-structured interviews were collected and analysed thematically. The study adopted an interpretivist qualitative design. Data were coded following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-step protocol to identify recurring themes related to students' perceptions of ChatGPT, critical engagement with AI-generated content, and ethical decision-making. Findings showed that when the students received training in the three core areas of literacy, they developed a critical awareness of ChatGPT's limitations especially regarding personalization, accuracy, and academic integrity. The study proposes an AI literacy framework tailored to professional communication contexts and highlights implications for designing discipline-specific AI guidelines and assessments. Recommendations for future research and curriculum development are also provided.