Navigating English Writing Proficiency Tests in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

The establishment and growth of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has sparked tremendous interest in the field of writing skills, as AI writing tools have the potential to assist humans in creating and refining text. The availability of these tools may lead to a reliance on AI in writing, which raises concerns about the potential degradation of writing skills. To that extent, will the writing skill session in English proficiency tests (e.g: TOEFL, IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEIC) be displaced? Utilizing a phenomenological case study, the researcher interviews four experienced test administrators in North Sumatera, Indonesia, to explore their perspective regarding to the impact of AI writing tools on the applications of writing tests in English proficiency tests. Various insightful perspectives are elaborated by the participants, implicating the future of English writing proficiency tests in the age of AI. However, in case this study is conducted in Indonesia and only involves four test administrators, a wider scale of research is needed to further investigate the potential impact of AI writing tools on writing skills across various contexts and languages.

Exploring Higher Education EFL Students’ Perception of AI Writing Tools in the 5.0 Era

“…The main purposes for which EFL students use AIWTs are indicated, with 14 respondents using these tools to create written content and 6 respondents using them for learning purposes. However, it is important to note that the level of user proficiency plays an important role in determining the effectiveness of AIWTs from a user experience perspective (Hz et al, 2023). Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the user experience is key to developing effective AIWTs, ensuring that these tools can be optimally used by different levels of user proficiency.…”

“…(P1) In contrast to P1, who accepted and expressed her excitement about how AIWTs helped her writing activities, P2 accepted AIWTs to help her writing but emphasized caution and avoiding total dependence when using AIWTs to trigger ideas and gain broader perspectives for replies in academic writing. The practical implication of these findings is the need for a balanced approach to the use of AIWTs in higher education that utilizes the benefits of technology without sacrificing creativity and originality in writing (Hz et al, 2023). Therefore, instead of solely relying on the information generated by AIWTs, it is important to strategically use AIWTs as a tool to gain inspiration and a broader understanding in order to understand the value of research and the purpose of writing (Hz et al, 2023).…”

“…The practical implication of these findings is the need for a balanced approach to the use of AIWTs in higher education that utilizes the benefits of technology without sacrificing creativity and originality in writing (Hz et al, 2023). Therefore, instead of solely relying on the information generated by AIWTs, it is important to strategically use AIWTs as a tool to gain inspiration and a broader understanding in order to understand the value of research and the purpose of writing (Hz et al, 2023).…”

“…Some studies suggest that the use of AI-powered writing tools can help students improve their writing skills (Kurniati & Fithriani, 2022;Syahnaz & Fithriani, 2023;Wang, 2022;Zhao, 2023), while other studies express concerns about the side effects of such tools (Liu et al, 2022;Lund & Wang, 2023;Qadir, 2023). However, other findings suggest that while AIWTs can assist in writing, they cannot replace the need for human creativity, critical thinking, and writing skills themselves (Hz et al, 2023).…”