Sustainable AI Use in EAP: Student Perceptions and Practical Applications

In Hong Kong, GenAI has been generally well received with more positive than negative media coverage (Lee & Chen, 2024), favourable student perceptions (Chan & Hu, 2023), and (after an initial period of uncertainty) positive reception in the university community (Lee & Chen, 2024). However, as GenAI tools advance, teachers’ overconfidence in their ability to detect AI-generated texts (Fleckenstein et al., 2024) and students’ overreliance on copying answers from online sources (including GenAI tools) rather than generating their own ideas and answers may lead to poorer learning outcomes (Glass & Kang, 2020). This raises reasonable concerns about GenAI’s short-term and long-term impacts on English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teaching and learning practices. This study investigates the attitudes towards GenAI and the experiences with AI-driven tools of students (n=76) from four English Language Centre subjects at a Hong Kong university. The researchers collected written assessments, GenAI transcripts, and student reflections and conducted pre- and post-course surveys and interviews. The findings highlight the benefits and challenges of GenAI integration in EAP courses and can inform the adoption of practical and sustainable applications, strategies and assessments to counterbalance students’ GenAI use to support the achievement of authentic language proficiency and other learning outcomes.