Professor Phoebe Lin was invited to speak at the English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) on 14 May 2025. Her workshop, “Opportunities and Challenges in GenAI-Assisted Writing Instruction,” drew a highly engaged audience of English language teachers.
Drawing on her research and classroom practice at PolyU, Prof. Lin introduced an innovative GenAI-enhanced L2 writing pedagogy. Rather than treating AI as a shortcut, she advocated for using tools like ChatGPT as collaborative writing partners—to prompt critical thinking, deepen ideas, and organise arguments. Her talk featured a 7-week undergraduate writing module in which students engaged in verbal interactions with GenAI in their first language, before drafting essays in academic English.
Prof. Lin outlined ten key teaching principles, including prioritising content over form, encouraging open idea-sharing, training students in prompt engineering, and providing clear feedback on both student ideas and GenAI use. Her approach fostered learner agency, increased participation, and refocused attention on the substance of student arguments.
Her action research showed a notable shift in student attitudes by the end of the course. Many students reported that GenAI helped them streamline their writing, clarify ideas, and overcome writer’s block. The CUHK audience responded with enthusiasm, leading to lively discussion on how to integrate GenAI into language teaching responsibly and effectively.
This cross-institutional exchange highlighted the pedagogical promise of GenAI and reaffirmed our Department’s leadership in advancing innovative, student-driven approaches to academic writing in the AI era.
