Generative artificial intelligence in EFL writing: A pedagogical stance of pre-service teachers and teacher trainers
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Abstract
This study examines pre-service English language teachers’ grounds and connections between the use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in EFL writing skills and future prospects to integrate them into their teaching practices. Employing a qualitative research paradigm, a researcher-developed survey was used to elicit the perspectives of 28 pre-service English language teachers and 10 teacher trainers. The stages of qualitative data analysis were followed, emergent ideas embedded in the responses were labeled and the codes were clustered into broader themes to obtain a description of their reflections. This study documented reflections on the transformative impact of generative AI in EFL writing. Benefits were reported considering the use of AI tools to overcome writer’s block and get language support, and instantaneous and personalized feedback to the texts. Foregrounding concerns regarding academic misconduct, a need was highlighted for ethical guidelines and enhancement to AI literacy to ensure the validity of AI-generated content. Further, they suggested reformulating assessment and evaluation in EFL writing skills and moving away from result-oriented exams suggesting the adoption of performance-based and process-oriented assessments. Accordingly, ethical and pedagogical implications were offered to adopt a critical stance to improve AI literacy skills in EFL writing development.
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