THE INTEGRATION OF GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INTO EFL WRITING INSTRUCTION IN CHINA

Abstract

The integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is reshaping English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing instruction in China, offering a solution to long-standing challenges such as large class sizes, product-oriented pedagogy, and delayed feedback. By integrating GenAI into a structured pedagogical framework, spanning pre-class knowledge delivery, in-class knowledge internalization, and post-class knowledge expansion, this study demonstrates a shift toward a process-oriented, student-centered model. Using a cause-and-effect writing unit as an example, this model demonstrates how AI supports diagnostic analysis, interactive learning, and collaborative feedback, creating a continuous scaffold for writing development. The study highlights GenAI’s role as a writing assistant, feedback provider, and motivational tool, while emphasizing the importance of pedagogical design and ethical implementation. The findings underscore GenAI’s capacity to foster autonomous, confident writers, enabling a modernized, personalized EFL writing ecosystem that aligns with China’s educational modernization goals.