TEACHERS’ VIEWS ON UTILIZING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN IELTS WRITING ASSESSMENT

In the context of an increasing number of colleges utilizing the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) certification for admissions purposes, there is a growing demand for IELTS preparation. Consequently, teachers are compelled to allocate more time to assess IELTS writing tasks to meet the escalating needs of students. Amid the popularity of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) model introduced in November 2022, many teachers have adopted ChatGPT for grading IELTS writing tasks to save time and enhance the assessment quality. However, not all educators effectively incorporate this new technology. This study delves into the perspectives of IELTS instructors regarding the challenges and optimal methodologies to utilize AI in language evaluation, particularly in assessing writing tasks. The study adopts both a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews to collect input from instructors. The findings indicate that the primary challenge is crafting comprehensive and meticulous prompts to enable ChatGPT to provide accurate assessments. The study recommends a method to create effective prompts and underscores the importance of building collaborative support networks among educators, providing in-depth training for educators in AI utilization, and establishing ethical guidelines for using AI in language assessment. The new findings will assist educators in optimizing the application of AI in English writing skill evaluation.