Approaching the Limits to EFL Writing Enhancement with AI-generated Text and Diverse Learners
Abstract
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, such as ChatGPT, are reshaping how English as a foreign language (EFL) students write since students can compose texts by integrating their own words with AI-generated text. This study investigated how 59 Hong Kong secondary school students with varying levels of academic achievement interacted with AI-generated text to compose a feature article, exploring whether any interaction patterns benefited the overall quality of the article. Through content analysis, multiple linear regression and cluster analysis, we found the overall number of words -- whether AI- or human-generated -- is the main predictor of writing quality. However, the impact varies by students' competence to write independently, for instance, by using their own words accurately and coherently to compose a text, and to follow specific interaction patterns with AI-generated text. Therefore, although composing texts with human words and AI-generated text may become prevalent in EFL writing classrooms, without educators' careful attention to EFL writing pedagogy and AI literacy, high-achieving students stand to benefit more from using AI-generated text than low-achieving students.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2503.00367,
title = {Approaching the Limits to EFL Writing Enhancement with AI-generated Text and Diverse Learners},
author = {David James Woo and Hengky Susanto and Chi Ho Yeung and Kai Guo},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.00367},
year = {2025}
}