Investigating College Students' Attitudes and Perceptions of Using ChatGPT in Writing Language Essays

Since its release in November 2022, ChatGPT has proved useful in numerous aspects of life, including education, where it promises to offer great opportunities to students, particularly in the field of language learning. However, several concerns have arisen regarding its effect on students' creativity, privacy, and academic integrity. Employing a quantitative descriptive research design, the present study investigates the attitudes and perceptions of college students towards the use of ChatGPT in writing essays for language courses with particular emphasis on their perceived usefulness, ease of use, and ethical appropriateness. It also attempts to uncover the concerns they may have about using ChatGPT. Knowing these attitudes is crucial for a more informed decision-making process, as they would provide valuable insights to stakeholders on the academic and ethical aspects involved in integrating ChatGPT into language learning. Drawing upon the Technology Acceptance Model framework (Davis, 1986, 1989), data was collected using a questionnaire that was taken by 521 university-level students from different backgrounds. The findings reveal overall positive attitudes towards usefulness, ease of use and ethical appropriateness, with the majority of participants favoring institutional acceptance of the application. On the other hand, participants voiced concerns about the future effect of using ChatGPT on higher-order thinking skills. The study recommends that educators and stakeholders propose new regulatory practices, educational techniques, and assessment methods that help mitigate the limitations of these newly introduced AI tools and incorporate them effectively to enhance the learning process.