A.I.'m Writing Here

The podcast discusses the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in improving writing engagement and quality for second language learners. Language differences and cultural norms create challenges for learners when it comes to writing. AI technology can help by providing grammar, punctuation, and spelling assistance, as well as real-time feedback from teachers. Studies show that students are receptive to using technology for second language learning, as it improves their writing performance and allows for personalized learning experiences. COVID-19 has further emphasized the importance of technology in education. The fear of AI replacing human communication is unfounded, as AI can only provide a base-level understanding and does not humanize information. AI models have been found to ease cultural communication constraints. By using AI tools like ChatGPT and PowerNotes, learners can clarify idioms and cultural norms, improving their writing and increasing their perception of AI's value. A Welcome to Hey I'm Writing Here, a podcast where we explore writing, cultural identification, and understanding, and explore how the advancement in artificial intelligence technology can contribute to writing engagement and writing quality of second language learners. We'll also explore the impact of AI technology on teachers and peers interacting with second language learners and how it can ease cultural and linguistic misunderstandings. Within the United States, we experience language differences. There's the age-old sub versus hoagie, soda versus pop, highway versus freeway, just to name a few. Within one culture, there are various common terms, idioms, and euphemisms that correspond to regions. Across cultures, it expands to language barriers and understanding of new and different uses of language and common terms. These factors contribute to second language learners' ability to create fully expressive writing and engage in writing in the new language that they're learning. Just like writing a paper, we review our grammar, use punctuation, and spelling tools, which can distract from our flow of work or cause a delay in our ability to complete it. Second language learners face a more complex version of these issues when they're trying to write. Communication between people from the same cultural and social experiences can still prove to be difficult, but imagine being placed in a completely new culture and language. A study conducted by Xu and Sanchez explored culture and communication in their article, Asymmetrical Cultural Assumptions, the Public Self, and the Role of the Native Speaker, Insights for Expansions of Intercultural Education and Foreign Language Teaching. In the study at the University of Mercia, they found that students who were enrolled in language courses in a course that they were not familiar with were able to pick up on the general concept of the language and exact direct translation, but when applied to the real world, they kind of failed at communicating with others. They weren't able to recognize and understand cultural norms and idioms, certain local euphemisms, which when translated directly didn't really align with what they had learned, as well as the language that they were using being known for multiple different uses within the local culture. It created a huge clash. Students found themselves less engaged and willing to participate in the writing process. Students are receptive to new technology, primarily when it comes to second language learning. Lynn and Walters were able to prove this in their article, The Impact of Technology on Students' Writing Performance in Elementary Classrooms, a Meta-Analysis. It showed that students saw the value of mobile learning and felt empowered to utilize the platform. Word processing tools allowed them to engage at higher levels and resulted in significant improvements in not just their writing quality, but also the amount of writings that they were willing to engage in. In Lynn and Griffith's paper, Impacts of Online Technology Use in Second Language, they also found that educators were able to make a better impact in their grading and advice when it came to student writing. They were able to view students' progress and provide feedback in real time, mitigating the length of time it took for them to grade assignments and provide that feedback to students. COVID-19 forced students to learn from home, and Yao Pingping and Zhu were able to apply some M-learning models for their research for enhancing students' English language learning via M-learning integrating technology acceptance models and SOR models. Students were engaged on the platform because they perceived it as useful, often being able to tailor their experiences and work in their own time. So, how does this all apply to AI? Barbreen has an article, How AI is Changing How We Write and Create, where she interviews three NC State professors and asks them about their opinion about technology. A great consensus amongst these professors were a fear of a homogenous society, that cultures would kind of start disappearing and create one culture and one way of communicating. But Professor Paul Feitz, he presents the idea that these fears are a fallacy. Students weren't going to become complacent, but rather figure out ways to adapt the technology into their current practices. All the technology can really do is provide a base-level understanding and it doesn't actually humanize any of the information. So, this brings us to AI Experience Predicts Identification with Humankind. Wang and Ping, they created AI models and had people from Eastern and Western cultures engage in AI technology, and they found that it really did help ease some of the cultural communication constraints. The biggest issue they had was people actually finding the value and engaging in the platform, but what they point out, which is true amongst all AI tools, is AI is constantly learning and its ability to learn depends on its use. So, with that and all the information that we've gathered through these projects, I realize that consistent use of AI and using functions like ChatGPT and PowerNotes and all these other platforms can really significantly help people engage and write better. Not by replacing their writing, but kind of acting as a real-time and more concise annotation of the text that they're producing and putting out there. Now, I don't mean this in the sense that it's attached to every single piece of writing that they create, but the person reading or the person writing can use various assistive learning tools to help clarify some idioms or cultural norms that they may not be aware of or are taking into that new culture. And with all these factors together, it is going to increase students' perception of the value of AI and mitigate a lot of the stress factors that contribute to them not wanting to engage in writing. It's really important that we further look into AI and how it can be leveraged. From personal use, I use PowerNotes for my current classes presented by one of my words classes. And I was able to find a value in it, helping to organize my thoughts and work and kind of mitigate the time spent in the organization process. But even in features that we were allowed to copy and paste directly from those programs, we didn't believe that they were truly humanizing the experience or really refining the point that I was trying to make in the process. So while yes, there are fears that AI technology can impact complacency, it just goes to show that students aren't really readily adapting to it as an end-all be-all and replacement for their writings, but really using it as an additional resource, just how we use word processing applications. What it's doing is creating an easier environment where we can express ourselves instead of focusing so heavily on the structure of what we're trying to say. So AI can really help in cultural identification, not just for the people producing the text, but for the people who are ingesting it, the people who are reading it. We can bridge the gaps in those cultural issues, increase just engagement, but overall allow people to tell their stories, tell their stories effectively and in a comfortable way where they're fully expressing themselves and are being received in the way that they're intending.