Fostering transparency: a critical introduction of generative AI in students’ assignments

Abstract This article analyses a specific strategy designed to include generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools in students’ written assignments. While we recognise that GenAI tools represent a challenge for teachers in terms of their classroom use and the development of digital literacy among students, we believe that banning them is not a viable option. In our view, students need to develop a sustainable, critical approach to these tools, informed by the need to be transparent. With this in mind, we have thus developed, tested and evaluated a protocol for language learners in two Swiss universities. In our experiment, students were allowed to use any online tools available for their written assignments, but they were required to clearly highlight in their texts any output derived from text generators (ChatGPT), machine translation tools (DeepL), online corpora and online dictionaries in their texts. They also had to report on their writing process in an additional, meta-analytical paragraph. After submitting their assignments, students were asked to answer a questionnaire investigating their use of, and attitude to, GenAI tools as well as their transparency in completing the task. The data gathered allowed us to gauge students’ trustworthiness as to their self-reported tool use and to determine whether our protocol could help teachers preserve the take-home written assignment in the GenAI era. Finally, the analysis yielded interesting insights into students’ use of GenAI in L2 writing and highlighted different ways in which teachers can foster more transparency. This innovative action-research study brings much-needed data and offers practical guidance to language teachers interested in GenAI.