Journal of Language and Literature Studies
Vol. 6 No. 2 (2026): June

ChatGPT Assisted in EFL Cause and Effect Essays: A Lesson from EFL Academic Writing Context

Pramuditha, Anninda Lutfhi (Unknown)
Setiani, Rulik (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
23 Jun 2026

Abstract

The growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in EFL academic writing, particularly ChatGPT, has changed how students generate and organize written texts. However, it remains unclear how academic writing components organization, logical development of ideas/content, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mechanics, and style and quality of expressions are manifested in ChatGPT-assisted essays and which components are most and least evident, especially in cause-and-effect essays that require clear logical relationships. This study aims to examine how academic writing components are manifested in ChatGPT-assisted cause-and-effect essays and to identify which components are most and least evident. This study employed a descriptive qualitative approach using Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) with a deductive orientation. The participants were 21 third-semester students of the English Education Study Program at Universitas Muhammadiyah Kotabumi who used ChatGPT in writing their cause-and-effect essays. The researcher used an analytical writing rubric adapted from Brown (2004) as the research instrument. The data were analyzed through data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings show that all components are present but appear at different levels of consistency. Organization and logical development of ideas/content emerge as the most evident components, style and quality of expression appear at a moderate level, while grammar and punctuation, spelling, and mechanics remain the least evident. These findings indicate that ChatGPT supports idea organization and development more effectively than grammatical and mechanical accuracy. The results demonstrate that ChatGPT facilitates students in organizing and developing ideas. However, it does not fully ensure grammatical accuracy or effective revision. Therefore, students should position ChatGPT as a supporting tool while continuously improving their language accuracy and revising their writing.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

jolls

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Other

Description

Journal of Language and Literature Studies is an open access journal which provides perspectives of languages, language teaching, and literature studies. This journal has the Focus and Scope at presenting and discussing outstanding contemporary issues in line with Applied Linguistics, English ...