EXPLORING EFL STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF AI WRITING ASSISTANTS IN SUPPORTING ACADEMIC WRITING STRUCTURE AND COHERENCE

Abstract

The rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has led to the increasing use of AI Writing Assistants in tertiary academic writing practices. Although these tools offer considerable technical support, students' perceptions of their actual role in supporting higher-order writing dimensions—specifically organizational structure and textual coherence—warrant rigorous empirical investigation. This study aims to explore EFL students' perceptions and lived experiences regarding the use of AI Writing Assistants in developing academic writing structure and coherence. Employing a descriptive qualitative research design, this inquiry engaged ten final-year English Education undergraduates at a university in Garut who had completed Academic Writing coursework and routinely utilized AI-powered platforms. Primary data were gathered through semi-structured online interviews guided by a 25-item open-ended protocol and systematically examined using the interactive qualitative analysis model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña, which encompasses data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification. The findings reveal that AI Writing Assistants provide substantial benefits by facilitating idea mapping, structural outlining, paragraph coherence enhancement, formative revision feedback, and drafting support. Nevertheless, participants encountered critical operational challenges, including the necessity of sophisticated prompt formulation, occasional factual inaccuracies, cognitive dependency, and the imperative for critical manual verification. The study concludes that AI Writing Assistants function effectively as scaffolding partners in fostering academic writing structure and coherence when deployed with active metacognitive regulation and rigorous critical evaluation. ABSTRAK Perkembangan pesat Artificial Intelligence (AI) telah mendorong meluasnya adopsi AI Writing Assistants dalam praktik penulisan akademik di perguruan tinggi. Meskipun teknologi ini menawarkan kemudahan teknis, persepsi mahasiswa mengenai perannya dalam menopang aspek tingkat tinggi penulisan akademik, khususnya struktur teks dan koherensi, masih memerlukan kajian empiris yang mendalam. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengeksplorasi persepsi dan pengalaman nyata mahasiswa English as a Foreign Language (EFL) dalam memanfaatkan AI Writing Assistants guna mengembangkan struktur dan koherensi tulisan akademik. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan desain studi deskriptif yang melibatkan sepuluh mahasiswa tingkat akhir Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris di Garut yang berpengalaman menggunakan alat bantu berbasis AI. Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui wawancara semi-terstruktur mendalam secara daring dengan instrumen berupa pedoman wawancara 25 butir pertanyaan terbuka, serta dianalisis menggunakan model interaktif Miles, Huberman, dan Saldaña yang mencakup reduksi data, penyajian data, dan verifikasi kesimpulan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa AI Writing Assistants memberikan manfaat nyata dalam membantu pemetaan ide, penyusunan kerangka karangan, penyelarasan koherensi antarparagraf, pemberian umpan balik formatif, dan fasilitasi proses draf penulisan. Kendati demikian, mahasiswa menghadapi tantangan teknis berupa tuntutan literasi prompt, risiko keluaran teks yang tidak akurat (hallucination), kecenderungan ketergantungan kognitif (overreliance), serta perlunya verifikasi kritis terhadap sumber rujukan. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa AI Writing Assistants efektif menjadi mitra penopang (scaffolding partner) dalam memfasilitasi struktur dan koherensi penulisan akademik apabila diimbangi oleh regulasi metakognitif dan evaluasi kritis dari mahasiswa.