Exploring How English Language Learners Use ChatGPT in Their Email Writing Processes
Widya Ratna Kusumaningrum, Hwee Jean Lim, Kate Challis, Jeanne Beck · 2024
ChatGPT has captured the attention of educators worldwide due to its ability to rapidly generate linguistic responses to novel natural language prompts. Teachers and students alike are exploring ways the tool can promote learning and increase efficiency in carrying out common tasks in English. In line with this, the purpose of this study is to examine how English learners (ELs) use ChatGPT to create their emails and what features the EL’s email exhibit in comparison to ChatGPT’s output. We examined six university-level EL’s ChatGPT use while drafting emails using Baaijen & Galbraith’s (2018) five-part framework evaluating 1) time spent on each task, 2) production cycles (i.e. the number of prompts used for each task), 3) conceptual similarity, 4) text modification, and 5) sentence similarity between ChatGPT’s output and the participant’s final draft. These data revealing how ELs interact with ChatGPT can inform teachers as they attempt to leverage this technology with learners. This research also provides insight into Els’ email, an understudied aspect of their writing which is important for navigating their academic.