ESL Pre-Service Teachers’ Literacy and Acceptance of ChatGPT as a Generative AI Tool for Writing: A Sequential Explanatory Study

The main objective of this research is to explore how ESL pre-service teachers perceived ChatGPT, a generative AI tool for writing, and the factors shaping their perception of ChatGPT for writing skills in an educational context. The research aims to investigate ESL pre-service teachers’ awareness, acceptance, perception, and the interplay between these factors regarding ChatGPT for writing. A sequential explanatory research design was employed and utilized complete enumeration sampling. The sample consisted of 80 undergraduate students enrolled in the Teacher Education Department English majors were used to collect students’ engagement data including students’ perceptions and usage of the platform, and user experiences were examined using the data using a 5-point Likert scale. Also, an in-depth interview was conducted with ten (10) students based on those who got the highest and lowest scorers in the Quantitative phase to understand deeper experiences in using ChatGPT and to explore design opportunities for leveraging ChatGPT as a generative AI tool for writing in the field of ESL education. The findings emphasized the awareness and acceptance of ChatGPT in writing. However, there were limitations to consider. These challenges encompassed issues such as inaccurate automated responses and the possibility of plagiarism. Despite these limitations, the research findings demonstrate that ChatGPT is effective writing tool. As researchers who experienced the process of different writing styles using ChatGPT, researchers believe that its potential needs to be maximally utilized. We suggest its application across different subjects and disciplines to examine its strengths and weaknesses in depth thoroughly.