JALT2025 Postconference Publication Selected Paper
This paper was chosen as a Selected Paper through consultation with the JALT Publications Board. We express our congratulations to these authors and our appreciation of their well-written paper.
Reference Data:
Black, M. T., & Underwood, P. (2026). Guiding Effortful Learning With ChatGPT in University EFL Writing. In B. Lacy, M. Swanson, & H. Yoder (Eds.), LanguageS: Learning, Teaching, Assessing – JALT 50 Years – Challenges and Perspectives. JALT. https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTPCP2025-04
Though concerns have been raised about the misuse of AI such as ChatGPT in academic settings, recent research also emphasizes pedagogical potential when its use is carefully guided. Informed by the concepts of desirable difficulty, productive struggle, cognitive offloading, and the theory of planned behavior, the authors designed exploratory interventions during AY2025 to guide Japanese university EFL students’ use of ChatGPT in (a) pre-writing information searches, and (b) AI-supported revision of independently written drafts. Survey data and student assignments highlighted contrasting ways in which AI use was influenced by resource-related factors and task design. The findings suggest how structured, in-class guidance can preserve opportunities for effortful learning while mitigating excessive cognitive offloading to AI. This paper contributes to a theoretical discussion of how AI use can support rather than undermine long-term effortful learning habits in EFL writing.
ChatGPTなどの生成AIについては学術的誤用が懸念されているが、適切な指導の下では教育的な有用性も示されている。本研究は、望ましい困難、生産的葛藤、認知的オフロード、計画的行動理論の概念に基づき、2025年度に日本の大学EFL学生を対象として、①ライティング前の情報探索、②学習者自身が書いた草稿のAI支援による推敲、の2点でChatGPTの活用を指導する探索的な介入を設計した。調査結果と提出された課題の分析から、学習資源の状況や課題設計がAI利用のあり方に異なる影響を与えることが示された。これらの知見から、構造化された授業内指導は、過度な認知的オフロードを抑えつつ、努力を要する学習機会を保持し得ることが示唆された。本稿は、EFLライティングにおける長期的な努力的学習習慣を損なわずにAIを活用する理論的議論に貢献する。
