Effects of teacher, automated, and combined feedback on syntactic complexity in EFL students’ writing

Abstract

Although studies on written feedback have confirmed the effectiveness of multiple sources of feedback in promoting learners’ accuracy, much remains to be discovered about its impact on other aspects of language development. Concerns were raised with regard to the possible unfavourable impact of feedback on the complexity of students’ writing which resulted from their attention to producing accurate texts. In response to this need for research, the study investigated the effects of teacher, automated, and combined feedback on students’ syntactic complexity over a 13-week semester. Our data collection included 270 students’ texts including their drafts and revised texts and pre-and post-test writing. Essays were analysed using the web-based interface of the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer. Regardless of feedback from multiple sources, paired sample t-test results indicate no significant differences between initial and revised texts, resulting in minimal variance between comparison pairs. Moreover, no significant differences were found between the pre-and post-writing assessment in all complexity measures. These findings suggest that providing feedback on students’ writing does not lead them to write less structurally complex texts. The syntactic complexity of their revised essays varied among high-, mid-, and low-achieving students. These variations could be attributed to proficiency levels, writing prompts, genre differences, and feedback sources. A discussion of pedagogical implications is provided.