Using AI to expand the “Toolbox” for EAP writing instruction: Student experiences and perceptions of ChatGPT’s instructional potential
Abstract
The recent advent of AI-based digital assistants such as ChatGPT offers the potential for a new tool in the instructional “toolbox” for EAP courses. We report on a retrospective survey of students’ experiences using ChatGPT in first- and second-year EAP core writing courses at a continental European university. Students reported that they saw ChatGPT as a social agent, had moderately fluent experiences interacting with it, and had moderately positive perceptions of ChatGPT as an instructional tool. Both self-reported fluency of the interaction and perceptions of ChatGPT’s social agentic qualities were positively associated with perceptions of ChatGPT’s value as an instructional tool. Students reported that ChatGPT was less helpful than their professors, and neither more nor less helpful than their peers. Implications for EAP instruction are discussed.
Publication history
Table of contents
Writing, and more specifically academic writing, is an essential component of contemporary English curricula for students at university. While academic writing can be challenging for students of all backgrounds (Bartlett, 2003; Odell & Swersey, 2003), it is especially so for students who learn English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) (Paltridge, 2004). These students must not only learn skills like argumentation and the conventions for this genre of writing, but they must also learn the associated linguistic forms, all in a second or foreign language. Moreover, to become academically literate, they have to learn to meet the requirements (i.e., norms, standards and procedures) of the academic world using the communicative currency of the academic community (Van de Poel & Gasiorek, 2012). Given this, finding a variety of ways to support students in learning academic writing is an ongoing concern for instructors of English for Academic Purposes (EAP).
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