Lost in AI: Analyzing Students' Linguistic Agency and the Usage of Artificially Generated Writing Tools?

Abstract

This study explores the impact of Artificial Intelligence (hitherto referred to as Al) generated writing tools on students' confidence, independence, and linguistic agency in academic writing, and examines how teachers' evaluation strategies of Al-generated content shape students' writing behavior. The increasing prevalence of AI tools (ChatGPT, Grammarly and QuillBot), required an exploration of their impacts on student's learning experiences, perceptions of authorship, and assessment processes. This study employed a mixed-methods design that included quantitative surveys with 200 university students and 50 university professors, as well as qualitative design to analyze the open-ended responses. Linguistic Agency Theory and Formative Assessment Theory is used in this study to illustrate how students employ control over their written work and how teacher's feedback influences student learning outcomes while using Al. The findings of this study shows that frequent use of Al tools improves students' self-confidence, and increase writing fluency, especially grammar as they possessed varying levels of independence and linguistic agency. While some were able to evaluate Al suggestions critically and maintain their voice, others relied on Al too heavily. Educators can support or hinder student agency based on how they provide feedback to students. Ethical issues regarding originality, academic integrity were identified in this study, particularly in Pakistani context, and multilingual higher education. This study extends our understanding of how AI contributes in academic writing, and also provide practical suggestions for ethical usage policies, and evaluation practices with technological support. These findings are helpful for educators, policymakers, and institutions with the goal of supporting the integration of Al tools into the educational environment and to enhance student learning experiences while preserving students' critical thinking skills and authorship.