Investigating AI Writing Tools in Enhancing Academic Writing Skills of Diploma in TESL Students of a Private College in Malaysia: The Moderating Role of Students’ Perceptions

The rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have transformed language education, especially in higher education. Many studies have been done related to AI integration in education, but none on the use of language AI tools among Diploma TESL students at PolyTech institutions in Malaysia. This study investigates the use of AI writing tools such as Grammarly, QuillBot and ChatGPT in enhancing the academic writing skills of Diploma in Teaching English as a Second Language (DTESL) students at Kolej Poly-Tech Mara (KPTM) Kota Bharu, Malaysia. The study is grounded in Sociocultural Theory (SCT) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to investigate the relationship between AI writing tool use which is the independent variable and academic writing skills as the dependent variable including grammar accuracy, vocabulary usage, coherence and organization and self-editing skills. Students’ perceptions of AI writing tools that are operationalized through perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use will serve as the moderating variable. A mixed-method explanatory sequential design under the pragmatic paradigm will be employed with Phase 1 comprising a quantitative survey that will be administered to 150 students followed by Phase 2 involving qualitative semi-structured interviews with 15 purposively selected students to explore their experiences, challenges and suggestions for improving the integration of AI writing tools. Quantitative data will be analysed using SPSS Statistics Version 29 through descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. Qualitative data will be analysed thematically through a manual process. This study will provide empirical insights into how AI writing tools support ESL academic writing performance and offer practical recommendations elicited from students’ suggestions for incorporating these tools into writing instruction. By focusing on the Malaysian higher education ESL context, this study addresses critical gaps in the literature on AI-assisted academic writing.