ChatGPT and Teaching and Learning of Writing within ESP - a Friend or a Foe?

Examining the advantages and challenges associated with integrating ChatGPT into ESP writing instruction, the research aims to provide insights into its impact on language development, writing skills, and learning experiences. It delves into the potential benefits of enhanced language exposure, personalized learning, and writing assistance offered by ChatGPT. Simultaneously, it scrutinizes challenges related to context understanding, the risk of plagiarism, limited interactivity, algorithmic bias, and potential stifling of creativity. The paper advocates for a balanced approach, emphasizing supervised use, integration with traditional instruction, and a focus on creativity, authorship, and critical thinking.

I. Introduction

The public launching of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot trained on a large dataset of text which can be fine-tuned for a variety of natural language processing tasks such as language translation, question answering, and text completion [1], that took place on 30 November 2022 and its lighting speed evolution in a bit more than one year have changed and affected many issues and phenomena in today's world, but the matter which has probably gone through the largest change, in all its aspects, is the concept of writing. That is especially true in terms of its use in academic and professional environments. The change has emerged from the fact that, with the assistance of ChatGPT, i.e. by asking it appropriate question or by giving it precise instructions (prompts), all sorts, types and genres texts on different topics can be created in most of the world languages, mostly correct in terms of grammar, logically connected, cohesive and coherent in terms of semantics and style, and, if concrete, factual information is in question, predominantly accurate and/or easy to correct or amend. Everything said is particularly the case with the texts created in the English Language.