An Integrated Automatic Writing Evaluation and SVVR Approach to Improve Students’ EFL Writing Performance

Abstract

Writing is a challenging task for English Foreign Language (EFL) instruction. Based on artificial intelligence technology, Automatic Writing Evaluation (AWE) has received considerable attention from the EFL research community in recent years, since it can provide timely and personalized feedback to EFL writing learners. However, researchers have pointed out that while AWE can provide satisfactory feedback on vocabulary use and grammar, it is relatively inadequate at providing efficient feedback on organization, coherence, and content. Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality (SVVR) can provide a highly immersive and in-depth interaction learning environment that makes up for this shortcoming. Authentic experiences help enhance EFL writing learners’ perceptions and understanding of context, and assist students in creating constructive internal connections between their personal experiences and the topic of their writing, thus improving their writing quality. Therefore, the current study proposed an approach which integrated SVVR and AWE to investigate its effects on EFL writing. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a quasi-experiment was carried out in a university’s EFL writing course. The experimental group (37 students) used the SVVR–AWE approach, while the control group (39 students) used the conventional approach with AWE. The results showed that the learning method not only considerably enhanced the students’ EFL writing performance, but also raised their motivation, self-efficacy, and sense of presence, as well as reduced their EFL writing anxiety. Furthermore, interviews were performed and a thematic inductive qualitative analysis of the interview data was conducted to investigate the impact of this learning method on students’ learning behaviors and perceptions.