Research project Writing with (AI-) Tools

This research project in foreign language education focuses on the use of (AI-) tools in the writing process of adult learners of German at universities in Sweden. The primary emphasis lies on how learners incorporate these tools into their writing process. The theoretical foundation of the study is based on process-oriented writing research. Additionally, concepts from psycholinguistics and approaches from media didactics are integrated into the analysis. The research design is based on a mixed-methods approach to address the research questions. Students will produce short texts in their target language German. Their activities will be recorded using keystroke logging tools and eye-tracking technologies. In addition, participants will complete a background questionnaire and partake in stimulated recall interviews. The data analysis will focus on the types of tools, search terms used and the prompts provided by the learners. The timestamp data from the keystroke logging and the eye-tracking results will be analyzed to capture the duration and frequency of tool usage, along with the associated perceptual and processing activities. All collected data will be considered in connection with the background survey previously conducted. The results of this study aim to contribute to a better understanding of the modern writing process in foreign language acquisition and to provide recommendations for the integration of (AI) tools into language instruction at the tertiary level.