ESL Writing Pedagogy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Voices of International Students’ from the Global South

• In Event: Investigating Generative AI Use and Integration in International Contexts: Opportunities, Challenges, and Insights

Abstract

Writing is a significant space as it allows learners to express their ideas, thoughts, and experiences through making sense of the world around them. With the Generative AI integration, writing led to the pedagogical enhancement and transformation, but it also discusses challenges, such as learners’ procrastination, over-reliance on AI, and ethical concerns (Zhai et al., 2024; Salhoum, 2024; Mukhtar et al., 2025).
ESL learners are confronted with the pressure to write and publish in English, also known as the academic lingua franca (Tang, 2012). As writers in a language that is not their native language, they face linguistic barriers leading to feelings of frustration, insecurity, and lack of motivation (Fareed et al., 2016; Finn, 2018). The literature addressed the impact of Generative AI in enhancing ESL learners’ academic writing skills (Nawi et al, 2025; Xiao, 2025; Kim et al, 2025). However, it did not fully capture the complexity of it with ESL learners from the Global South, especially with respect to their voice and the way they navigate this relationship: learner-instructor and learner-machine. This study asks the questions: 1) What are the insights of ESL learners on AI as a writing assistant? 2) How does this emerging technology change the way they envision the instructor’s role? And 3) how does AI change the way they envision the process of writing and themselves as writers?
The study engages with the concept of “linguistic imperialism” (Phillipson, 1992) and “humanistic pedagogy” (Freire, 1970). “Linguistic imperialism” is a view of language that justifies its existence in a community in terms of its usefulness in achieving specific utilitarian goals (Wee, 2003), which runs the risk of degrading the individual’s mother tongue, ways of knowing, and voice. Humanistic pedagogy underscores teachers’ and learners’ critical consciousness, which enables them to become subjects consciously aware of their context as well as the conditions that oppress them. Humanistic pedagogy goes hand in hand with the idea of Dialogue; a method of learning whereby both teachers and learners equally contribute to the process of knowledge creation.
Data is collected through online surveys. It consists of international students from East Asia, who are enrolled in diverse programs at a public university in Southern California. Preliminary findings suggest that ESL learners depend on different AI generative tools in their writing. While they acknowledge its impact in enhancing their writing, they raised concerns about the dominance of uncritical and mechanical ways of learning. Moreover, they underscored the key role of writing instructors as a guide to foster a learning environment of growth and empowerment, especially given the unregulated expansion and use of AI. Lastly, they demonstrated awareness about the importance of humanizing their writing while calling for educational interventions to regulate the use of AI to foster ethical and effective learning experiences. This study brings a critical perspective on AI and the way ESL learners navigate this emerging technology while seeking equitable and quality education. It also has implications regarding ethics in ESL writing pedagogy from the voices of linguistic minorities.

Authors

• Fadhila Hadjeris, University of California - Los Angeles

• Kathy Yi-Hang LI, UCLA