Teaching Writing with GenAI: Teacher Insights on How to Adapt Learning and Assessment Practices

Authors

• Thanh Thao Le, Can Tho University, Viet NamFollow
• Trut Thuy Pham, Nam Can Tho University, Viet NamFollow
• Minh Tuan Duong, Nam Can Tho University, Viet NamFollow
• Thi Diem Lan Le, Nam Can Tho University, Viet NamFollow

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) creates two connected challenges for English as a foreign language (EFL) writing assessment: teachers need credible evidence of learner authorship and learning, while teachers and learners need practical guidance for responsible use. We investigated how nine Vietnamese tertiary EFL teachers redesigned writing tasks and assessment and whether their pedagogical reasoning varied across career stages. We generated data through semi-structured interviews at two tertiary institutions and analyzed the accounts using reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis produced four themes: (1) movement from detection to authenticity-by-design, (2) Defensive, Adaptive, and Generative response patterns, (3) integrity, equity, and feasibility as design trade-offs, and (4) learner learning as learning to show, say, and cite. At the design stage, we expected career stage to help explain differences in teacher responses. The findings showed that career stage operated as one part of teachers’ professional histories, while course ecology, assessment stakes, class size, infrastructure, and institutional guidance often had the most immediate influence. The study contributes a teacher-response typology and a process model for designing assessment that makes learner judgment, source use, revision, and AI assistance assessable.

Keywords

assessment, EFL, writing, GenAI, reflexive thematic analysis, Vietnamese higher education

Author Bio(s)

Thanh Thao Le (Corresponding author, OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8471-8305) is persuading his Ph.D. studies at KU Leuven, Belgium. He is responsible for teaching language skills at his home institution - Can Tho University, Vietnam. He is very interested in classroom-based research and educational change-related issues. Please direct correspondence to [email protected]

Trut Thuy Pham (OrcID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6596-2686) is a lecturer at Nam Can Tho University, where she primarily teaches courses on language skills, translation, and interpretation. Her research interests focus on teacher professional development.

Minh Tuan Duong (OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3011-8467) is a lecturer of English at Nam Can Tho University in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. He holds a Master’s degree in Principles and Methods in English Language Education. His research interests include English teaching methods, educational psychology in language learning, and technology-enhanced teaching and learning.

Thi Diem Lan Le (OrcID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2609-396X) currently works as a lecturer of English at Nam Can Tho University in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. She obtained a Master’s degree in Principles and Methods in English Language Education in 2015. Her research interests include English teaching methods, English as a medium of instruction, and technology-enhanced teaching and learning.

Publication Date

10-31-2026

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended APA Citation

Le, T. T., Pham, T. T., Duong, M. T., & Le, T. D. L. (2026). Teaching writing with GenAI: Teacher insights on how to adapt learning and assessment practices. The Qualitative Report, 31(10), 6984-7003.

ORCID ID

0000-0002-8471-8305