UNDERGRADUATES’ USE OF CHATGPT IN ENGLISH-MEDIUM INSTRUCTION CLASSROOMS AT A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTE IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Rapid development of AI applications, especially ChatGPT, has changed the way higher education in the world works. Nevertheless, fewer empirical studies have investigated the ways students in EMI settings employ this tool to overcome language and academic challenges. The present qualitative study explored the use of ChatGPT as a learning tool in EMI classrooms by undergraduates in a Pakistani higher education institute. Case study design was used to gather data from three purposely sampled students who used ChatGPT for academic tasks. The data gathered through a focus group discussion were analyzed thematically. Four important themes emerged namely easy and correct language, response specificity, personalized learning, and extensive exam practice. Students view ChatGPT as a reliable source of linguistic information, which had the ability to make the complex information easy to understand and remove grammatical mistakes. Another feature that was appreciated was the tool’s ability to come up with accurate and immediate answers as opposed to the traditional search engines. Participants also used ChatGPT to get personalized, step-by-step instructions thus, making up room for individualized learning experience in EMI classrooms. Also, ChatGPT was used as an assessment-preparation aid, which allowed students to create practice questions that matched the exam formats. Although the results emphasize the empowering factor to the tool excessively, they also indicate a troubling dependence and blind trust in AI-generated information. The paper highlights the necessity of the combination of AI literacy, critical assessment competence, and assessment redesign in the context of EMI higher education to help create responsible and pedagogically significant use of AI technologies.