ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS IN DEVELOPING EFL STUDENTS' ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF RESEARCH (2022–2025)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37547/Keywords:
artificial intelligence, EFL writing, academic writing, ChatGPT, Grammarly, scaffolding, automated writing evaluation, academic integrity, Central Asia.Abstract
This article examines the role of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in developing the academic writing competence of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students, drawing on a systematic review of 32 peer-reviewed studies published between 2022 and 2025. It offers a critical typology of five categories of AI writing tools — grammar and style checkers, automated writing evaluation systems, large language model-based assistants, paraphrasing tools, and neural machine translation — evaluated against a multi-level model of L2 academic writing competence. Meta-analytic evidence indicates a moderate-to-large overall effect of AI-assisted instruction (d = 0.65), rising to d = 0.81 when AI and instructor feedback are combined. The article also addresses the ethical, pedagogical, and institutional challenges associated with AI integration — including academic integrity, learner over-reliance, feedback accuracy, and digital equity — before outlining principled recommendations for responsible AI integration in EFL writing instruction in Uzbekistan and comparable Central Asian contexts.
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