EXPLORING THE POWER OF GENERATIVE AI: ENHANCING BUSINESS EMAIL WRITING SKILLS FOR L2 LEARNERS

Abstract

L2 learners at higher education often face difficulties in writing business emails in English, which hinder effective workplace communication and academic success. Therefore, higher education institutions should educate their learners about business email literacy. This study analysed how thirty-one business degree Malay students at a public university in Malaysia utilized generative AI tools for composing business emails. These participants presented their reflection investigation on the application of generative AI in business email writing for their group class assignment for English for Business Communication. This study's research approach included a qualitative document analysis on PowerPoint presentation slides of the participants, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings reveal three themes emerged from the study; Theme 1: Preferred generative AI, Theme 2: Optimising generative AI prompts for business email writing, and Theme 3:  Ethical usage of AI. Theme 1 has three sub-themes; user friendliness, relevant business contexts and quality generated texts. The results showed that all groups had different AI tools due to their personal choices. Theme 2 has two sub-themes; prompts for external email and prompts for internal email. The participants used generative AI tools for idea expansion and paraphrasing. These L2 learners also wrote specific prompts for different types of email. Two emerging sub-themes of   Theme 3 are writing assistance and best practices on ethical usage of generative AI. The participants stressed the significance of understanding plagiarism and effectively using generative AI tools. Learners should be educated on intellectual property and ethical AI tool usage. Higher education institutions should integrate these tools into their courses to enhance business email writing skills and prepare students for AI-driven workplaces, fostering ethical and effective usage.