Using a multiple case-study approach, this study investigated the dynamics of peer interactions that took place through Microsoft Copilot among six pairs ( n  = 12) of ESL learners, focusing on their interaction patterns, use of semiotic and multimodal resources, and functions of languaging. Our analyses illustrated that four pairs displayed collaborative orientation, one pair demonstrated an expert-novice pattern, and one pair exhibited a dominant-passive pattern. It was also found that while the collaborative group students focused more on text search and revision, the expert-novice group and the dominant-passive group allocated more time to image generation. Furthermore, in terms of languaging functions, our results revealed that all six pairs of students spent most of their time negotiating writing content. Our study has implications for technology-enhanced multimodal writing pedagogy in a generative artificial intelligence machine-in-the-loop setting.

The authors explore the interdependent relationships between learning English(es) and learning digital literacies in global contexts, and, collaborating with two women who have moved and continue to move between the United States and Asia, highlight the crucial role that the practice of guanxi has played in advancing digital literacies. Their collaboration suggests that guanxi is a useful term for describing not only the multifarious constellations of connections and resources that structure the lives of individuals, but also for understanding how these connections are related to the social, cultural, ideological, and economic formations that structure the “information age.”