A Survey of EFL College Learners’ Perceptions of an On-Line Writing Program

Huaqing He

doi:10.3991/ijet.v11i04.5459

Abstract

This survey adopted quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate 209 Chinese college learners’ perceptions of an on-line writing program, Pigaiwang, in a normal university. The survey questionnaire and interview results indicated that EFL college learners attach great importance to English writing, but they find English writing difficult, particularly in terms of vocabulary and grammar; the majority of college learners showed slightly more positive attitudes toward using Pigaiwang as a writing tool than as an essay grader; computer–mediated feedback could enlarge learners’ vocabulary size, and reduce the grammar and spelling linguistic errors in their writing compositions; the majority of college learners thought writing with Pigaiwang could improve learners’ English writing learning autonomy and they hoped to use on-line writing programs in future English writing.

Highlights

With the rapid development of computer technology and the introduction of the internet, the increasing importance of computer-assisted language learning and computer-assisted language instruction has greatly influenced both writing instruction and writing research in recent years.The history of Automated Essay Scoring (AES) can be traced back to the 1960s in America with the development of Page Essay Grade (PEG), a program that used multiple regression analysis of measurable text features to build a scoring model based on a corpus of essays previously graded by hand [1]
209 students were investigated as survey subjects and 8 students were selected as interviewees, all of whom came from the same normal university
The second limitation is that the study did not compare learners’ perceptions of on-line writing programs with regard to different English proficiency levels

Summary

Introduction

With the rapid development of computer technology and the introduction of the internet, the increasing importance of computer-assisted language learning and computer-assisted language instruction has greatly influenced both writing instruction and writing research in recent years.The history of Automated Essay Scoring (AES) can be traced back to the 1960s in America with the development of Page Essay Grade (PEG), a program that used multiple regression analysis of measurable text features to build a scoring model based on a corpus of essays previously graded by hand [1]. With the rapid development of computer technology and the introduction of the internet, the increasing importance of computer-assisted language learning and computer-assisted language instruction has greatly influenced both writing instruction and writing research in recent years. More and more AES programs have appeared and can be used both as assessment and learning tools. These AES programs, such as Criterion, My Access, Writing Roadmap, and Pigaiwang, combine a scoring engine, an editing tool (offering grammar and spelling feedback), and some support resources (such as dictionaries). The first type of research is on the validity of the software [2], while the second focuses on the learning outcome and explores whether the writing software improves learners’ writing skills [3], [4]. The third type of research has concentrated on the process of using the writing software in the classroom [5], [6]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion