Linguistic Prejudice Toward GenAI‐Style in EAL Writing

ABSTRACT

This case study explores how first‐year English as an additional language (EAL) students experienced and responded to linguistic prejudice toward “GenAI‐style” writing. In a GenAI and Writing course focused on critical awareness of GenAI's affordances, limitations, and ethical use, data included two rounds of semi‐structured interviews, 44 screen recordings of writing sessions, and 23 submitted drafts. Linguistic prejudice was applied as an analytic lens to interpret how GenAI‐style was perceived and policed. Thematic analysis indicates that GenAI‐style writing could be seen as a suspicious signal, prompting gatekeeping that labels highly polished EAL writing as inauthentic. Participants responded with three strategies: (1) strategic disclosure management shaped by course policies and instructor stances, (2) rhetorical–stylistic re‐voicing to reduce an “AI feel” while maintaining authorial identity, and (3) epistemic vigilance via verification and source tracing. The study calls for inclusive pedagogy that treats GenAI‐style as a discussable resource and prioritizes agency, voice, and ethical, evidence‐based use.