CHATGPT AS A DIGITAL MENTOR: A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY OF CREATIVE WRITING DEVELOPMENT AMONG EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN INDONESIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31851/2e9nna37Keywords:
ChatGPT, creative writing, EFL students, artificial intelligence, higher educationAbstract
Despite the growing adoption of AI tools in higher education, limited studies have examined ChatGPT as a digital mentor in EFL creative writing within Indonesian higher education contexts. This study aims to examine how ChatGPT facilitates EFL creative writing development among Sriwijaya University students and to explore the challenges encountered. Employing a qualitative case study design, the research involved English Education students who completed an open-ended questionnaire, followed by semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings show that ChatGPT supported Creative Writing development in idea generation, structure quality, textual flow, and student confidence and motivation. However, challenges including overreliance, originality concerns, mismatched responses, and ambiguity were also identified. Theoretically, this study contributes to understanding AI-mediated constructivist learning in EFL contexts, emphasizing that ChatGPT's effectiveness as a digital mentor depends on critical and reflective student engagement. These findings have practical implications for integrating AI literacy and ethical considerations into EFL creative writing instruction.
References
Adeoye, M. A. (2024). Review of sampling techniques for education. ASEAN Journal for Science Education, 2(2), 87–94.
Alwasilah, S. S. (2024). The effect of creative writing activities on the story writing skill in university curriculum. Journal of Education Research, 5(3), 3974–3982.
Amini, F., & Susanti, A. (2024). ChatGPT: Enhancing students’ writing skills for EFL students in descriptive text. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 8(10), 2273–2285. https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.8100195
Archibald, M. M., Ambagtsheer, R. C., Casey, M. G., & Lawless, M. (2019). Using Zoom videoconferencing for qualitative data collection: Perceptions and experiences of researchers and participants. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919874596
Awosanya, O. D., Harris, A., Creecy, A., Qiao, X., Toepp, A. J., McCune, T., Kacena, M. A., & Ozanne, M. V. (2024). The utility of AI in writing a scientific review article on the impacts of COVID-19 on musculoskeletal health. Current Osteoporosis Reports, 22, 146–151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11914-023-00855-x
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Chasi-Solórzano, B., Nuñez-Zumba, C., & Araujo-Chalá, M. J. (2025). Creative writing teaching techniques on the development of written expression. Revista Cátedra, 8(1), 75–99. https://doi.org/10.29166/catedra.v8i1.7343
Creely, E. (2024). Exploring the role of generative AI in enhancing language learning: Opportunities and challenges. International Journal of Changes in Education, 1(3), 158–167. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42022495
Dahlin, E. (2021). Email interviews: A guide to research design and implementation. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211025453
De Matas, J. (2023). ChatGPT and the future of writing about writing. Double Helix, 11(1), Article 09. https://doi.org/10.37514/DBH-J.2023.11.1.09
Elkatmis, M. (2024). ChatGPT and creative writing: Experiences of master's students in enhancing creativity. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 11(3), 321–336. https://doi.org/10.52380/ijcer.2024.11.3.597
Fitria, T. N. (2024). Creative writing skills in English: Developing students’ potential and creativity. EBONY: Journal of English Language Teaching, Linguistics, and Literature, 4(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.37304/ebony.v4i1.10908
Flower, L., & Hayes, J. R. (1981). A cognitive process theory of writing. College Composition and Communication, 32(4), 365–387. https://doi.org/10.2307/356600
Flower, L., & Hayes, J. R. (2019). A cognitive process theory of writing. College Composition and Communication.
Formosa, P., Bankins, S., Matulionyte, R., & Ghasemi, O. (2025). Can ChatGPT be an author? Generative AI creative writing assistance and perceptions of authorship, creatorship, responsibility, and disclosure. AI & Society, 40(5), 3405–3417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-02081-0
Ginting, D. A., & Zaim, M. (2023). Adopting contextual teaching and learning model in creative writing. The SEALL Journal: The STKIP Al Maksum English Education, Linguistics, and Literature Journal, 4(1), 16–30. https://jurnal.stkipalmaksum.ac.id/index.php/jellas
Gunawardena, M., & Wilson, K. (2021). Scaffolding students’ critical thinking: A process not an end game. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 41, 100848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2021.100848
Ida Royani, & Sihombing, M. R. (2024). ChatGPT in the academic writing classroom. Esteem Journal of English Education Study Programme, 7(2), 630–638. https://doi.org/10.31851/esteem.v7i2.15615
Jameel, A. S., & Mohamood, D. F. (2017). The effect of flexibility and fluency strategies on developing creative writing skills in English language subject of the fourth preparatory literary students. International Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Science, 2(1), 37–50.
Kvale, S. (2021). Doing interviews. Sage Publications.
Lochmiller, C. R. (2021). Conducting thematic analysis with qualitative data. The Qualitative Report, 26(6), 2029–2044. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2021.5008
Mazrou, K. Al, & Alzyoudi, M. (2024). The role of ChatGPT in mitigating loneliness among older adults: An exploratory study. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 14(4), e202444. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/14777
Mei, P., Brewis, D. N., Nwaiwu, F., Sumanathilaka, D., Alva-Manchego, F., & Demaree-Cotton, J. (2025). If ChatGPT can do it, where is my creativity? Generative AI boosts performance but diminishes experience in creative writing. Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans, 4, 100140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbah.2025.100140
Mohammadzadeh, A., Ahour, T., & Saeidi, M. (2020). A sociocultural perspective on second language writing: The effect of symmetrical versus asymmetrical scaffolding on intermediate EFL learners’ writing accuracy, fluency, and complexity and their attitudes. Education Research International, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/5292356
Patton, M. Q. (2020). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice. Sage Publications.
Pokhrel, V. (2023). Developing creative writing skills in EFL students: An action research. The Universal Academic Research Journal, 5(1), 1–10. https://www.ijere.com/article/developing-creative-writing-skills-in-efl-students-an-action-research-1058177
Putri, Y. T., & Ginting, S. B. (2025). The strengths and weaknesses of artificial intelligence in improving writing skills: A users’ perspective. Journal Informatic, Education and Management (JIEM), 7(2), 296–305. https://doi.org/10.61992/jiem.v7i2.144
Royani, I., & Sihombing, M. R. (2023). Exploring the opportunities and challenges of ChatGPT in academic writing. In International Conference on Educational Theories, Practices, and Research, 1(1), 277–286.
Senel, E. (2018). The integration of creative writing into academic writing skills in EFL classes. International Journal of Languages’ Education and Teaching, 6(2), 115–120. https://doi.org/10.18298/ijlet.2869
Shidiq, M. (2023). The use of artificial intelligence-based ChatGPT and its challenges for the world of education: From the viewpoint of the development of creative writing skills. Proceedings of International Conference on Education, Society and Humanity, 1(1), 353–357. https://ejournal.unuja.ac.id/index.php/icesh
Tisdell, E. J., Merriam, S. B., & Struckey-Peyrot, H. L. (2025). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John Wiley & Sons.
Tomaszewski, L. E., Zarestky, J., & Gonzalez, E. (2020). Planning qualitative research: Design and decision making for new researchers. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920967174
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Muhammad Darma Febrian, Fiftinova Fiftinova
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright Notice
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
In order to assure the highest standards for published articles, a peer review policy is applied. In pursue of the compliance with academic standards, all parties involved in the publishing process (the authors, the editors and the editorial board and the reviewers) agree to meet the responsibilities stated below in accordance to the Journal publication ethics and malpractice statement.
Duties of Authors:
- The author(s) warrant that the submitted article is an original work, which has not been previously published, and that they have obtained an agreement from any co-author(s) prior to the manuscript’s submission;
- The author(s) should not submit articles describing essentially the same research to more than one journal;
- The authors(s) make certain that the manuscript meets the terms of the Manuscript Submission Guideline regarding appropriate academic citation and that no copyright infringement occurs;
- The authors(s) should inform the editors about any conflict of interests and report any errors they subsequently, discover in their manuscript.
Duties of Editors and the Editorial Board:
- The editors, together with the editorial board, are responsible for deciding upon the publication or rejection of the submitted manuscripts based only on their originality, significance, and relevance to the domains of the journal;
- The editors evaluate the manuscripts compliance with academic criteria, the domains of the journal and the guidelines;
- The editors must at all times respect the confidentiality of any information pertaining to the submitted manuscripts;
- The editors assign the review of each manuscript to two reviewers chosen according to their domains of expertise. The editors must take into account any conflict of interest reported by the authors and the reviewers.
- The editors must ensure that the comments and recommendations of the reviewers are sent to the author(s) in due time and that the manuscripts are returned to the editors, who take the final decision to publish them or not.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
