FROM SCREEN TO SCRIPT: QUILLBOT SUPPORT FOR FILM REVIEW WRITING THROUGH THE PRESENT (2014) IN AN INDONESIAN EFL CLASSROOM

Abstract

The increasing use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing classrooms raises questions about authorship, dependency, and students’ ability to construct meaning. This study examines how AI-supported writing interacts with film-based instruction by using The Present (2014) as the learning medium for a film review writing task. Drawing on Christian Metz’s semiotics of cinema, the study employs a qualitative case study approach involving twelve EFL students at a language institution in Indonesia. Data were collected through post-instruction surveys and analyzed interpretively. The findings indicate that QuillBot assisted students with grammatical accuracy and sentence clarity but did not reduce difficulties related to evaluative writing and interpretation. The study concludes that generative AI functions as linguistic mediation rather than a generator of meaning. It recommends that AI tools be integrated reflectively within film-based writing pedagogy that prioritizes interpretation, structure, and critical voice.