Leveraging generative AI for teaching writing : a case study of two English language teachers

Abstract

This chapter presents a qualitative case study investigating how generative AI (GenAI) can transform English language teachers' approaches to writing instruction. Following two English language teachers in Malta over a four-week period, the study explores their implementation of ChatGPT across four process-writing stages: brainstorming, planning, drafting, and editing. Data collected through semi-structured interviews and reflective journals revealed three main themes: GenAI as a facilitator of process-oriented writing instruction, teacher concerns regarding over-reliance and loss of human agency, and the development of teachers' own GenAI digital competence. The findings indicate that integrating GenAI shifts pedagogical emphasis from final written products to active engagement with the writing process, fostering critical thinking, prompt engineering skills, and student autonomy.