EFL paraphrasing skills with QuillBot: Unveiling students' enthusiasm and insights

Abstract

EFL students' attitudes are crucial for the development of writing abilities, which in the age of cutting-edge technology depend extensively on artificial intelligence -mediated tools, and paraphrasing draws no exception. Therefore, this study aims to identify English as a foreign language student’s enthusiasm and insights about utilizing QuillBot to improve their paraphrasing skills. To achieve the study objectives, the quasi-experimental design was employed. Thirty-one preparatory year students were recruited to answer a questionnaire and semi-structured interview having verified the validity and reliability of the instruments. The sample of the test demonstrated that students improved their performance in synonyms, sentence structure, and word choice. The respondents hold high enthusiasm and insights toward utilizing QuillBot to improve their paraphrasing skills. In addition, students had positive feelings about utilizing QuillBot to improve their paraphrasing skills. In light of the findings, the researchers recommended employing QuillBot in a writing class while learning paraphrasing skills.

Keywords

• QuillBot
• Saudi EFL context
• paraphrasing skills
• enthusiasm and insights