Effects of the Use of Generative AI Tools on EAP Writing Development: A Case Study with Medicine Undergraduates

The present empirical study examines the impact AI tools intervention may have on the writing development of undergraduate EFL learners. This mixed-methods research was conducted at a Saudi university with sixty students as participants to teach writing short essays focused on medical issues. The participants were taught to plan, organize, draft, revise and prepare the final drafts of the essays on given topics using AI tools, such as ResearchRabbit for referencing, Acrobat Chat with PDFs for summary, and Otio for grammar check and planning, drafting and revising the essays. The study involved experimental teaching, conducted for 4 weeks. The participants were undergraduate students majoring in Medicine and learning English for one year as a pre-requisite for university study. After a pre-test, two groups- experimental and control- were formed dividing the research subjects randomly. The research subjects in the experimental group were taught to use AI tools to search relevant medical terminology, search reference materials and prepare bibliography, checking English grammar and usage, organizing, planning, drafting and revising their essays. On the other hand, research subjects in control group were taught to write essays on the same topics using a traditional approach, that is, finding relevant terms using online or offline dictionary, using their knowledge of grammar to write error-free essays, finding relevant ideas from online/offline sources, planning, drafting and writing the essays. The control group participants were strictly forbidden to take AI help in any way. After the experimental teaching, the groups were given a post-test. The marks obtained by participants were compared. The mean of marks obtained by experimental group participants was higher by 2.95 points, with t-test value 8.83 (statistically significant at p .05). The t-test value obtained on a comparison of the pre-assessment and post-assessment scores of the experimental group participants was 4.743 (statistically significant at p .05). Thus, the research findings show positive effects of AI tools intervention on participants’ writing development.