The Effect of ChatGPT use on EFL Students’ Academic Writing Self-Efficacy in an Islamic Education Context
Abstract
The rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence has transformed academic writing practices in higher education, with ChatGPT emerging as a widely used AI-powered writing assistant among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. While previous studies have increasingly examined the potential of ChatGPT to support students’ writing performance, limited empirical attention has been given to its effect on students’ academic writing self-efficacy, particularly within Islamic higher education contexts. This study aims to examine the effect of ChatGPT-assisted writing instruction on the academic writing self-efficacy of EFL students at UIN Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang. The study employed a quantitative quasi-experimental design using a pretest–posttest control group design. Approximately 50 undergraduate EFL students selected through purposive sampling and assigned to an experimental group receiving ChatGPT-assisted writing instruction and a control group receiving conventional writing instruction. The intervention integrated ChatGPT into key stages of the academic writing process, including brainstorming, outlining, idea development, drafting, grammatical revision, vocabulary enhancement, paraphrasing, and proofreading, while emphasizing students’ active engagement and critical evaluation of AI-generated suggestions. Data collected using a Likert-scale academic writing self-efficacy questionnaire administered before and after the intervention. The instrument validated through expert judgment and pilot testing, while its internal consistency examined using Cronbach’s Alpha. The data analyzed using descriptive statistics, normality and homogeneity tests, and an independent-samples t-test to determine differences in posttest self-efficacy scores between the experimental and control groups. The findings expected to provide empirical evidence regarding whether ChatGPT-assisted writing instruction can significantly enhance EFL students’ academic writing self-efficacy. The study expected to contribute to the growing literature on generative artificial intelligence in language education and provide pedagogical implications for the responsible and purposeful integration of ChatGPT into academic writing instruction in Islamic higher education contexts.
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