Cover not available
Article published In:
TASK
Vol. 3:2 (2023) ► pp.243–272

From sci-fi to the classroom

Implications of AI in task-based writing

ORCID logo | Michigan State University , USA
ORCID logo | Michigan State University , USA

With the release of ChatGPT, the use of AI in language teaching has become an issue that we cannot ignore. In this commentary, we argue that AI tools, including ChatGPT, are now among the digital resources available to students and teachers. We therefore need to be aware of the challenges and affordances of their uses in teaching and learning and that helping students understand these issues is part of the language teacher’s role in promoting digital literacy. We first discuss the history of AI in teaching writing and then highlight three issues related to its use: authorship, authenticity and accuracy, and digital literacies. Next, we provide examples of three tasks illustrating how AI can be used to promote language learning, genre awareness, and digital literacy. We conclude by suggesting some areas for further exploration.

Keywords: task-based writing, ChatGPT, Artificial intelligence
Article outline
  • Defining the territory: Task, genre, and second language writing
  • AI and teaching L2 writing
  • Concerns about AI
    • Authorship
    • Accuracy and authenticity
  • Digital literacy and working with AI
  • Three approaches to using AI
    • Writing to learn language
  • Learning to write specific genres
    • Learning to write with AI
  • Looking ahead
  • References
Published online: 11 March 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/task.00022.poo
References
Adamopoulou, E., & Moussiades, L.
(2020) Chatbots: History, technology, and applications. Machine Learning with Applications, 2 1, 100006. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Alemi, M., Meghdari, A., & Ghazisaedy, M.
(2015) The impact of social robotics on L2 learners’ anxiety and attitude in English vocabulary acquisition. International Journal of Social Robotics, 7 (4), 523–535. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, D.
(2010) Extended, embodied cognition and second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 31 (5), 599–622. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bender, E. M., Gebru, T., McMillan-Major, A., & Shmitchell, S.
(2021) On the dangers of stochastic parrots. Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bibauw, S., François, T., & Desmet, P.
(2022) Dialogue systems for language learning. In N. Ziegler & M. González-Lloret, The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and technology (1st ed., pp. 121–135). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, T., Mann, B., Ryder, N., Subbiah, M., Kaplan, J. D., Dhariwal, P., Neelakantan, A., Shyam, P., Sastry, G., Askell, A., Agarwal, S., Herbert-Voss, A., Krueger, G., Henighan, T., Child, R., Ramesh, A., Ziegler, D., Wu, J., Winter, C., Hesse, C.,… & Amodei, D.
(2020) Language models are few-shot learners. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, 33 1, 1877–1901.Google Scholar
Buendgens-Kosten, J.
(2013) Authenticity in CALL: Three domains of ‘realness.’ ReCALL, 25 (2), 272–285. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Byrd, A., Flores, L., Green, D., Hassel, H., Johnson, S., Kirschenbaum, M., Lockett, A., Losh, E., & Mills, A.
(2023, July). MLA-CCCC Joint Task Force on Writing and AI Working Paper: Overview of the issues, statement of principles, and recommendations. MLA-CCCC Working Paper #1. [URL]
Caplan, N.
(2023, April 30). Why I’m not excited by (or even using) generative AI. Nigel Caplan. Retrieved 5 July 2023 from: [URL]
Caplan, N., & Johns, A. M.
(2019) Introduction. In N. Caplan & A. M. Johns (Eds.). Changing practices for the L2 writing classroom: Moving beyond the five-paragraph essay, (pp. v – ix). University of Michigan Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Casal, J. E., & Kessler, M.
(2023) Can linguists distinguish between ChatGPT/AI and human writing?: A study of research ethics and academic publishing. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 2 (3), 100068. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chiu, T. K. F., Xia, Q., Zhou, X., Chai, C. S., & Cheng, M.
(2023) Systematic literature review on opportunities, challenges, and future research recommendations of artificial intelligence in education. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 4 1, 100118. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chung, E. S.
(2020) The effect of L2 proficiency on post-editing machine translated texts. Journal of Asia TEFL, 17 (1), 182. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Committee on Publication Ethics
(2023) Authorship and AI tools. [URL]
Cumming, A.
(1990) Expertise in evaluating second language compositions. Language Testing, 7 1, 31–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dixon, D. H.
(2022) A methodological framework for analyzing the language in digital games. In D. H. Dixon, Digital Games in Language Learning (pp. 52–73). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dizon, G.
(2017) Using intelligent personal assistants for second language learning: A case study of Alexa. TESOL Journal, 8 (4), 811–830. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R., Skehan, P., Li, S., Shintani, N., & Lambert, C.
(2019) Task-based Language Teaching: Theory and practice. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Frances, C., & Zimotti, G.
(2023, January 17). Robots vs. humans: Does ChatGPT pose a challenge to second language writing? FLTMag. [URL]
Godwin-Jones, R.
(2023) Emerging spaces for language learning: AI bots, ambient intelligence, and the metaverse. Language Learning & Teaching, 27 (2), 6–27.Google Scholar
Hafner, C. A., Chik, A., & Jones, R. H.
(2013) Engaging with digital literacies in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 47 (4), 812–815. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Harklau, L.
(2002) The role of writing in classroom second language acquisition. Journal of Second Language Writing, 11 1, 329–350. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hartmann, J., Schwenzow, J., & Witte, M.
(2023) The political ideology of conversational AI: Converging evidence on ChatGPT’s pro-environmental, left-libertarian orientation. SRN Electronic Journal. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jones, R. H.
(2022) Digital literacies and language learning. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of Practical Second Language Teaching and Learning (pp. 184–194). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kessler, M.
(2020) A text analysis and gatekeepers’ perspectives of a promotional genre: Understanding the rhetoric of Fulbright grant statements. English for Specific Purposes, 60 1, 182–192. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kohnke, L., Moorhouse, B. L., & Zou, D.
(2023) ChatGPT for language teaching and learning. RELC Journal, l, 54(2), 537–550. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Koltovskaia, S.
(2020) Student engagement with automated written corrective feedback (AWCF) provided by Grammarly: A multiple case study. Assessing Writing, 44 1, 100450. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kurzweil, R.
(1990) The age of intelligent machines. The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Kyle, K.
(2022) Writing and vocabulary learning. In R. M. Manchón & C. Polio (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and writing. Routledge.Google Scholar
Lantolf, J. P.
(2011) The sociocultural approach to second language acquisition: Sociocultural theory, second language acquisition, and artificial L2 development. In D. Atkinson (Ed.), Alternative approaches to second language acquisition (pp. 24–47). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Levene, A.
(2023, February 23). Artificial intelligence and authorship. COPE. Retrieved 5 July 2023 from: [URL]
Lin, P.
(2023) ChatGPT: Friend or foe (to corpus linguists)? Applied Corpus Linguistics, 3 (3), 100065. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Long, M. H.
(1985) A role for instruction in second language acquisition: Task-based language teaching. In K. Hyltenstam & M. Pienemann (Eds.), Modeling and assessing second language development (pp. 77–99). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
(2015) Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
(2020) Optimal input for language learning: Genuine, simplified, elaborated, or modified elaborated? Language Teaching, 53 (2), 169–182. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Manchón, R. M.
(2017) The potential impact of multimodal composition on language learning. Journal of Second Language Writing, 38 1, 94–95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McCarthy, J., Minsky, M. L., Rochester, N., & Shannon, C. E.
(1955) A proposal for the Dartmouth summer research project on artificial intelligence. AI Magazine, 27 (4), 12–14.Google Scholar
McKenna, N., Li, T., Cheng, L., Hosseini, M. J., Johnson, M., & Steedman, M.
(2023) Sources of hallucination by large language models on inference tasks. arXiv preprint arXiv:2305.14552.Google Scholar
Miller, C. R.
(1984) Genre as social action. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 70 (2), 151–167. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mitrović, S., Andreoletti, D., & Ayoub, O.
(2023) Chatgpt or human? detect and explain. explaining decisions of machine learning model for detecting short chatgpt-generated text. arXiv preprint arXiv:2301.13852.Google Scholar
Ohashi, L.
(2022) The use of machine translation in L2 education: Japanese university teachers’ views and practices. In B. Arnbjörnsdóttir, B. Bédi, L. Bradley, K. Friðriksdóttir, H. Garðarsdóttir, S. Thouësny, & M. J. Whelpton (Eds), Intelligent CALL, granular systems, and learner data: short papers from EUROCALL 2022 (pp. 308–314). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Orenstrakh, M. S., Karnalim, O., Suarez, C. A., & Liut, M.
(2023) Detecting LLM-generated text in computing education: A comparative study for ChatGPT cases. arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.07411.Google Scholar
Overstreet, M.
(2022) Writing as extended mind: Recentering cognition, rethinking tool use. Computers and Composition, 63 1, 102700. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Overstreet, M., Akhmedjanova, D., & Vaccino-Salvadore, S.
(2023) Brain-bound vs. extended: Contrasting approaches to second-language research writing in digital environments. Journal of Second Language Writing, 61 1, 101019. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Park, S., Jeon, J., & Shim, E.
(2021) Exploring request emails in English for business purposes: A move analysis. English for Specific Purposes, 631, 137–150. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pfau, A., Polio, C., & Xu, Y.
(2023) Using an AI program to assess L2 writing accuracy for research purposes. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 2 (3). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Phelps, L. W.
(1990) Audience and authorship: The disappearing boundary. In G. Kirsch & D. Roen (Eds.), A sense of audience in written communication (pp.153–174). Sage.Google Scholar
Polio, C.
(2022) Writing and grammar development. In R. M. Manchón & C. Polio (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and writing (pp. 169–182). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Poole, F.
(2022, December 13). Using ChatGPT to design language material and exercises. FLTMag. [URL]
Prince, P.
(2013) Listening, remembering, writing: Exploring the dictogloss task. Language Teaching Research, 17 (4), 486–500. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Qin, J.
(2008) The effect of processing instruction and dictogloss tasks on acquisition of the English passive voice. Language teaching research, 12 (1), 61–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Qu, W.
(2017) For L2 writers, it is always the problem of the language. Journal of Second Language Writing, 38 1, 92–93. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rawte, V., Priya, P., Tonmoy, S. M., Zaman, S. M., Sheth, A., & Das, A.
(2023) Exploring the relationship between LLM hallucinations and prompt linguistic nuances: Readability, formality, and concreteness. arXiv preprint arXiv:2309.11064Google Scholar
Reinhardt, J., & Thorne, S.
(2019) Digital literacies as emergent multifarious repertoires. In N. Arnold & L. Ducate (Eds.), Engaging language learners in CALL: From theory and research to informed practice (pp. 208–239). Equinox.Google Scholar
Roscoe, R. D., Allen, L. K., Weston, J. L., Crossley, S. A., & McNamara, D. S.
(2014) The Writing Pal intelligent tutoring system: Usability testing and development. Computers and Composition, 34 1, 39–59. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rudnick, P.
(2023, May 27). What would happen if a robot tried to write ‘Law & Order’? The New York Times. Retrieved 5 July 2023 from: [URL]
Sauro, S.
(2020) Fan fiction and informal language learning. In M. Dressman & R. W. Sadler (Eds.), The handbook of informal language learning (pp. 139–151). John Wiley & Sons. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schafer, V., & Warhol, T.
(2019) There ain’t no doubt about it: Teaching EAL learners to recognize variation and switch/shift between varieties and registers is crucial to communicative competence. TESOL Journal, 11 (3). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, M., & Phakiti, A.
(2014) The effects of computer-generated feedback on the quality of writing. Assessing Writing, 19 1, 51–65. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Swales, J. M.
(1990) Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University PressGoogle Scholar
(2004) Research genres. Exploration and applications. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tai, T.-Y., & Chen, H. H.-J.
(2020) The impact of Google Assistant on adolescent EFL learners’ willingness to communicate. Interactive Learning Environments, 31 (3), 1485–1502. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tardy, C.
(2019) Genre-based writing: What every ESL teacher needs to know. University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Tavakoli, P.
(2014) Storyline complexity and syntactic complexity in writing and speaking tasks. In H. Byrnes & R. Manchon (eds.). Task-based language learning: Insights from and for L2 writing (pp. 217–236). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Urlaub, P., & Dessein, E.
(2022) Machine translation and foreign language education. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 5 1, 936111. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vaswani, A., Shazeer, N., Parmar, N., Uszkoreit, J., Jones, L., Gomez, A. N., Kaiser, L., & Polosukhin, I.
(2017) Attention is all you need. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, 30 1, 5998–6008.Google Scholar
Wang, C., & Wang, M.
(2015) Effect of alignment on L2 written production. Applied Linguistics, 36 (5), 503–526. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wang, P.
(2019) On defining artificial intelligence. Journal of Artificial General Intelligence, 10 (2), 1–37. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Warschauer, M.
(1998) Electronic literacies: Language, culture, and power in online education. Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Williams, J.
(2012) The potential role (s) of writing in second language development. Journal of Second Language Writing, 21 (4), 321–331. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yeo, M. A.
(2023) Academic integrity in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) authoring apps. TESOL Journal, 001, e716. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zyzik, E., & Polio, C.
(2017) Authentic materials myths: Applying second language research to classroom teaching. University of Michigan Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar