Enhancing or Deteriorating? The Influence of ChatGPT on University Students’ Academic Writing Skills in Türkiye

Abstract

This study examined the impacts of ChatGPT on the academic writing skills of students who are taking English courses at a university in Türkiye. A qualitative research design was followed, during which a semi-structured interview with 12 active users of ChatGPT for academic writing was conducted. Thematic analysis reveals that students mostly benefited from improved writing fluency, organization, and grammatical accuracy due to ChatGPT. A lot of participants highly regarded it for prompt feedback, coherence, and help with brainstorming. Some of the drawbacks included over-reliance on AI, inability to provide subject-specific accuracy in many cases, and financial accessibility concerns, since premium features were often too expensive for students. While useful, research highlighted the need for ChatGPT to function in conjunction with traditional writing instruction to maintain integrity and develop autonomous writing skills. The study underscores how fundamental AI literacy and institutional support are for affording the most benefits from AI-assisted learning in academic writing.