POSTGRADUATE EFL STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT WITH CHATGPT IN ACADEMIC RESEARCH: A QUALITATIVE STUDY IN IRAN

Abstract

Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have transformed educational practices and research methodologies; however, a deeper understanding of its pedagogical role in postgraduate education is still developing. This qualitative study investigates how Iranian postgraduate students leverage ChatGPT in academic research to enhance the quality of their outputs. Specifically, the study explores how this AI-driven tool contributes to developing research proficiency while highlighting students’ satisfaction with its use for research support. Additionally, it describes their perspectives on the benefits and challenges of integrating AI technologies into this process. This research focuses on postgraduates in Applied Linguistics at a university in Shiraz, Iran, seeking to understand their experiences through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The results indicated that participants held positive attitudes toward incorporating ChatGPT into their research workflow, emphasizing its beneficial impact on academic writing, research quality, problem-solving, and motivation. ChatGPT was found to facilitate personalized learning, enhance productive team discussions, and support the comprehension of complex English concepts. Nevertheless, the findings highlighted the importance of maintaining a balance between technological assistance and human guidance and cautioned against over-reliance, which could undermine research skills and language proficiency. Ethical considerations were also identified as a crucial factor in using ChatGPT.