A Review of the Impact of Generative AI on Preschool Children's Expressive Language Development from Teachers' Perspectives

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence is entering educational and home-based learning contexts through intelligent dialogue, story generation, voice interaction, and real-time feedback. The preschool stage is a critical period for the development of children's expressive language ability, during which vocabulary, narrative competence, pragmatic awareness, and social communication skills depend heavily on authentic interaction and high-quality language input. This paper adopts a literature review approach to examine the impact of generative AI on preschool children's expressive language development, regarding early childhood teachers as key mediators in the application of this technology. The review indicates that generative AI may support children's expressive language development by enriching language input, providing low-anxiety opportunities for expression, supporting story continuation and role-play, and facilitating personalized feedback. However, its impact is not directly determined by the technology itself, but depends on the quality of AI-generated content, teachers' guidance strategies, usage contexts, and whether children can still maintain sufficient teacher-child, peer, and parent-child interaction. Existing research still shows several limitations, including insufficient attention to the preschool stage, limited discussion of active language expression, the absence of teachers' perspectives, and inadequate consideration of ethical and equity-related issues. This paper argues that the appropriate pathway for applying generative AI to preschool children's language development should be teacher-AI collaboration. In this framework, teachers are responsible for selecting, designing, regulating, and evaluating AI-supported language activities, so that technology functions as an auxiliary tool for promoting authentic expression rather than as a substitute for interpersonal interaction.