The Impact of Generative AI on Academic Writing Among ESL Undergraduates in Sri Lankan State Universities

Abstract

University assignments look completely different today because of generative AI like ChatGPT. This is a massive issue for undergraduates in Sri Lanka who are learning English as a Second Language. Most of these students did their entire school education up to the Advanced Level exams in the Sinhala or Tamil mediums. Then they start university, and everything is suddenly in English. Writing academic papers becomes a massive struggle. Undergraduates have to learn hard subjects while fighting basic English grammar at the exact same time. Tools like ChatGPT quickly become their main way to survive the coursework. But the line between getting a little help and actually cheating is very blurry. This research looks at what 60 undergraduates from five state universities actually do with these AI programs behind closed doors. The study used a Google Form survey to collect data quickly and anonymously. The survey showed that students rarely ask the software to write whole essays. Instead they use it mainly to fix grammar mistakes or get ideas to start their assignments. There is a serious downside to this new habit. About 45% of the students felt their deep critical thinking was getting worse because they rely on the machine to do the hard work. Also, reading the perfect English made by the computer ruined the writing confidence of exactly half the students. They see the perfect AI text and feel like their own English will never be good enough. This is especially scary for them when they think about sitting in a strict exam hall with no phones. Universities cannot just ban this technology. It is already everywhere. Instead, they have to teach students how to use it safely in their English classes. This way, these young adults can fix their language barriers while keeping their independent thinking.