With the rapid development of information technology, AI-enhanced education has become a defining trend. The Graduate Public English Teaching Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) has embraced this shift, integrating AI tools into its curriculum to support graduate students’ academic English writing. These efforts have yielded notable results and serve as a model for innovation in language education. The following outlines the center’s initiatives from  four key perspectives: program highlights, teacher feedback, student feedback, and future work.

Program Highlights

As early as the 2022-2023 academic year, the Graduate Public English Teaching Center and its teaching team recognized the potential of large language models and became early adopters of AI in education. Faculty members used AI tools to generate teaching materials and exercises, while some initiated research projects that explored AI-assisted writing revision and editing in their classes. In May 2023, the center officially launched the “AI-Empowered Academic English Writing Research Project,” promoting the use of large language models to assist all students in improving their writing.

Teacher Feedback

Following the full rollout of AI-assisted writing tasks, instructors reported noticeable improvements in students’ writing—especially in areas such as clarity, structure, and content depth. However, progress varied among different students. Students with weaker foundations showed marked improvements in grammar and sentence structure, while more advanced students benefited from advanced guidance. More importantly, even when students wrote without AI assistance, improvements in language complexity and confidence were observed—underscoring the complementary role of AI in classroom instruction. At the same time, teachers also became more proficient in leveraging AI tools for lesson preparation, feedback delivery (via automated grammar and vocabulary checks), and teaching.

Looking ahead, faculty members believe that responsible, integrated use of AI can have a lasting positive impact on students’ writing proficiency. They envision expanding AI applications to areas like academic paper writing, oral presentations, and public speaking. Many emphasized the importance of an “AI + HI” (Artificial Intelligence + Human Intelligence) approach—using AI as a tool to support, rather than replace, core writing skills and critical thinking.

Student Feedback

A survey of master’s and doctoral students enrolled in the compulsory Academic English course during the Fall 2024 semester revealed the transformative impact of AI tools on student learning.

The average self-satisfaction score for in-class, closed-book report writing was 4.45/10. After revision with AI assistance, that score jumped to 7.69/10, demonstrating strong student acceptance and confidence in using AI.

The average self-satisfaction score for closed-book report writing was 4.45/10. After revision with AI assistance, that score jumped to 7.69/10, indicating strong student acceptance and confidence in using AI.

The proportion of students with a confidence index of ≥6 increased from 10.72% to 66.14%, demonstrating a significant reduction in writing anxiety. Students gave AI writing tools an average satisfaction rating of 8.07/10, noting that the tools were helpful for grammar correction (81.36%), improving logical flow (65.09%), and expanding vocabulary (59.32%). AI was also found useful for adjusting tone (32.55%) and offering stylistic suggestions (32.28%).

Beyond these improvements, students also engaged critically with AI-generated content—analyzing logic, evaluating evidence, and refining their judgment, all of which promoted deeper learning and independent thinking.

Future Work

The Teaching Center’s future development strategy focuses on three key areas:

· Technological Integration: Increase the use of AI tools in academic writing instruction.

· Instructional Innovation: Enhance teaching methods to support student growth and learning outcomes.

· Assessment Enhancement: Develop an AI-supported evaluation system for more effective and personalized writing feedback.

Currently, the center is piloting a new initiative—AI-Empowered Academic English Oral Practice—which uses speech recognition and intelligent dialogue to provide real-time feedback on pronunciation and expression. This helps students improve their oral fluency and build confidence in authentic academic communication scenarios.

Currently, the center is piloting a new initiative: AI Empowered Academic English Oral Practice, which uses speech recognition and intelligent dialogue to provide real-time feedback on pronunciation and expression. This helps students improve their oral fluency by creating authentic academic communication scenarios.

In the future, the Graduate Public English Teaching Center will remain committed to its vision of "technology as the oar and education as the core". The center will continue to explore AI’s potential integration with education, aimed specifically at cultivating globally competent postgraduates with strong English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. By improving students' academic literacy and international communication skills, SJTU is nurturing future scholars who will be able to confidently participate in global academic discourse—and share China’s academic voice with clarity and conviction.