Effectiveness of automated corrective feedback on EFL learners’ writing proficiency and perception

Abstract

ABSTRACT With the advancement of computer technology, an automated corrective feedback (ACF) system has been developed to provide immediate feedback for self-corrections to improve learners’ writing quality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts of students’ writing behaviour, number of revisions, and perceived usefulness of the ACF system on EFL students’ writing performance. The study used a pre-test/post-test experimental design with convenience sampling. The pre-test, post-test, and three writing tasks were administered to 121 participants in the experimental and control groups, with t-tests and multiple regression analysis used. Results indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group after ACF intervention. The writing behaviours were significantly correlated with the perceived usefulness of the ACF application. Only drafting behaviour was found to be a significant predictor of ACF perceived usefulness. However, no significant relationships were found between the number of submissions, perceived usefulness of ACF, and writing behaviour and student writing performance. Based on the findings of the investigation, pedagogical implications, limitations, and future research directions were identified and discussed.