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RE2CLA (Research To Classroom) is a series where each post takes its departure point from an academic piece like a research report, empirical study, theoretical paper, or literature review. It aims to summarize key findings in an easy way and show how these findings can be used in teaching foreign languages. The series is mainly dedicated to foreign language teachers, although some undergraduate and postgraduate students in relevant fields may also find certain content beneficial.

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Is ChatGPT harming people’s ability to think and write? Does it change the way we teach, test, and evaluate foreign language writing skills? I’ve got these philosophical thoughts since ChatGPT came out and AI started advancing rapidly. I worried that ChatGPT and other AI-powered applications would make it unnecessary to teach writing because they could arguably write for us. But after some reading, trials, and errors, I’ve realized that ChatGPT doesn’t replace writers and writing instructors. Instead, when used correctly, it can actually help us work faster and more effectively. This article will summarize Jessie S. Barrot’s views on using ChatGPT for second language writing (Using ChatGPT for second language writing: Pitfalls and potentials, 2023), along with examples from my own experience. It’s important to note that Barrot’s article was published about 7 months ago, so some of the points may no longer be relevant given the fast pace of AI development.

What is the nature of ChatGPT? What can ChatGPT do?

The nature of ChatGPT, which stands for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer, is as an AI-powered chatbot. It uses advanced computing techniques and a vast amount of information to understand and respond to prompts in a way that resembles human conversation. It can be used on desktop computers and mobile phones with various web browsers like Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. ChatGPT can understand and produce human-like responses on a wide range of topics. Some of the great things about ChatGPT are its ability to write in many different styles and to create all sorts of texts that make sense and are grammatically correct. It’s really helpful for improving writing and language skills. It can also suggest essay topics based on what you like and make outlines in different styles. Plus, it gives feedback on your writing, so it’s a really useful tool to have.

How can language teachers utilize ChatGPT when teaching writing skills?

When language teachers want to teach writing skills, they can use ChatGPT as a supporting tool. Some strategies mentioned in the article include:

• Get students to try using ChatGPT: Teachers can encourage them to use ChatGPT for brainstorming, outlining, self-assessment, and editing. It can really help improve their writing.
• Show students how important the writing process is: Get them to document each step and develop their own unique writing style. That’s something ChatGPT can’t copy.
• Use ChatGPT’s editing tools to teach students proper language and style: They can then decide if they want to keep the changes it suggests.
• Give students clear rules on how to use ChatGPT ethically in writing classes: They need to understand why they’re using it and how to use it responsibly.
• Let students get hands-on with ChatGPT: Teach them how to use it and encourage them to work together, share their experiences, and talk about the challenges and ethical issues of using ChatGPT.

Where and how can ChatGPT can go along a writing process?

It’s super important to help students through all the stages of writing and to show them how they can use ChatGPT to the max. So, here are some activities and prompts teachers can use with ChatGPT in a writing class based on suggestions of Barrot. I will through them in this order: understanding the writing task, generating with ideas, planning the writing, drafting, revising, and editing. This is a simplified version of a process-oriented writing class so please note that you can surely expand beyond these.

1. Understanding the writing task: Imagine that we need to guide students through the following essay prompt:

Some people believe that social media sites, such as Facebook or Twitter, have a negative impact on young people and their ability to form personal relationships. Others believe that these sites bring people together in a beneficial way. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. Write at least 250 words.

Now, we may normally ask students to highlight key concepts in this prompt and they can possibly come up with the following version:

Some people believe that social media sites, such as Facebook or Twitter, have a negative impact on young people and their ability to form personal relationships. Others believe that these sites bring people together in a beneficial way. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. Write at least 250 words.

Alternatively, teachers and students can ask ChatGPT to identify key concepts and compare these with what they have. This can help students to pay attention to any key concepts that they may have missed out. I tried by asking ChatGPT “I am having an essay writing prompt: … Are there any key terms or concepts in the prompt that I should pay special attention to?” and you can find the answer I got in this link. Personally, I find this answer relevant but not very helpful as a class discussion could facilitate the identification of the same concepts. However, when students are writing on their own, this may be more useful.

2. Generating ideas: With the power of ChatGPT, it is tempting to give it the prompt and ask for lists of ideas, with detailed arguments and explanations. This will undeniably create a bad habit among students, making them less willing to think. Therefore, what I suggest is to start with a class discussion on students’ own ideas. For the above prompts, teachers can assign students into groups and discuss various aspects of how social media sites influence young people when it comes to their personal relationships. Teachers can then record the students’ ideas before showing them what ideas ChatGPT can suggest.

I’ve also noted that at this point, it is better to ask ChatGPT to “Suggest me some ideas about…” instead of telling it “I am writing an opinion essay. Suggest me some ideas…”. The latter will possibly lead to a complete outline, skipping the fun parts of discussing and criticizing ideas. The answer to my prompt can be seen here. With this answer, teachers can ask students to discuss each positive/negative effect and think about how appropriate they are. Teachers should try to draw a connection between the ideas suggested by ChatGPT and those previously suggested by the class. An alternative is to let students ask ChatGPT to elaborate on some ideas they are unsure about (the second question in my chat). It is important to note that some evidence is not clear enough, and as I ask for more, ChatGPT admits the lack of information for such evidence. This is when teachers can elicit some background knowledge or experience from the students.

3. Planning the writing: This stage is when students finalize their ideas into an outline. Teachers can instruct students to organize their ideas into an outline for the essay. Alternatively, we can instruct students to input their main ideas and supporting points into ChatGPT to generate an initial outline. Using the ideas from the previous activities, I prompted ChatGPT as below:

“I am writing an opinion essay of at least 250 words. I want to write a 5-paragraph essay. Here is the essay question: Some people believe that social media sites, such as Facebook or Twitter, have a negative impact on young people and their ability to form personal relationships. Others believe that these sites bring people together in a beneficial way. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

I have got the following ideas: [Insert the ideas]

Suggest me an initial outline using my ideas”

You can have a look at this chat here. As you can see in the prompt, I specified very clearly the ideas I have and the number of paragraphs I would like to write. This is to prevent ChatGPT from generating answers that steer away from our need. It is necessary to let students discuss how the generated outline can be refined and customized to fit their writing goals and style. In this case, some students may choose to opt out of the “Counterargument” section and divide the positive effects of social media on young people’s relationship into two paragraphs, which allows them to discuss each effect in greater detail.

4. Drafting: It’s important to note that ChatGPT can be a helpful resource during the revision and editing stages, offering suggestions and insights to improve the overall quality of the essay. However, the drafting stage provides an opportunity for students to harness their own creativity, critical thinking, and writing skills before seeking external guidance. I prefer to let students work on their first draft on their own.

Drafting independently enables students to develop and refine their own writing style. It allows them to experiment with language, tone, and voice, leading to the cultivation of a personal writing identity. Also, students can strengthen their writing skills, including sentence construction, coherence, and the ability to convey ideas effectively. It encourages them to think independently and make an effort to use their available linguistic repertoire to convey their perspectives.

5. Revising and editing: Among the stages, I personally favor the use of ChatGPT in the revising and editing stage. There are two activities that I think would be useful for students to review their draft individually or in groups, lifting the burden on the teachers as the only knowledge resource in the classroom.

Students can first use ChatGPT to revise different parts of their writing (e.g. paragraphs). When prompting ChatGPT, students need to tell it the purpose of their writing as well as what to review (e.g. vocabulary complexity, grammar check, organization of ideas, use of transitions). I’ve also found that by adding “Do not overwrite my writing. Show me suggestions in bullet points” at the end of the prompt will make it easier to navigate through the suggestions and discuss what to accept and reject.

Students can also be instructed to use ChatGPT during a peer review activity. Along with their peer feedback, students can ask ChatGPT to give suggestions and compare with those provided by their peers. Alternatively, students may ask ChatGPT to suggest ways to improve their writing based on feedback from their peers.

The previous content highlighted an important consideration regarding ChatGPT’s limitations in tailoring feedback to students’ individual levels and learning styles, as well as its inability to critically evaluate language use across genres and writing contexts. These constraints underscore the need for human teachers’ intervention and expertise in providing tailored and insightful feedback to students. My chat here illustrates both its capacities and limitations in reviewing language use.

What are the limitations and issues of ChatGPT?

Barrot outlines the following concerns when using ChatGPT in second language writing:

• Lack of emotional depth and writing voice: ChatGPT has trouble capturing the human touch in writing – you know, emotions, unique writing styles, and flexible language use.
• Inaccurate bibliographic information: Sometimes it messes up with the journal references, giving irrelevant or made-up articles.
• Potential impact on academic integrity: People worry that ChatGPT could pose a threat to academic honesty, making students rely too much on it, kill creativity, and make it hard to tell who did the work.
• Overreliance on the tool: Some say students might lean on ChatGPT too much, leading to learning issues and less creativity and critical thinking.
• Limitation in processing recent information: It might struggle with really new or specific topics because it relies on old data and patterns.

To the list, I would add the following based on my personal experience:

• Reluctance to accept new technology: The concern among many teachers and students about using ChatGPT is common. Some are worried that it could negatively impact their thinking and writing skills. Understanding the capabilities and limitations of AI tools like ChatGPT allows us to benefit from them while maintaining our critical thinking and creativity. Balancing traditional and modern methods is key to creating an engaging learning experience for all.
• Time constraints: With numerous activities and steps to cover, the writing process can be frequently interrupted, making it difficult to delve into every answer from ChatGPT in a class setting. Additionally, crafting insightful prompts for discussions can also be a time-consuming endeavor. Given these circumstances, finding a balance between comprehensive engagement with ChatGPT responses and managing the available time effectively becomes crucial for an efficient and productive learning experience.

While ChatGPT and similar AI tools offer remarkable support, they cannot fully emulate the depth of human insight and the intuition vital for creative expression. Hence, it’s paramount for writers and writing instructors to harness these AI capabilities judiciously, integrating them into the writing process as aids for ideating, planning, revising and editing, while preserving the essence of original thought and personal identity in writing. I do admit that some prompts presented in my current blog are not perfectly refined, which may result in unhelpful responses. Please kindly give me a suggestion in the comment section for improved content!