A Study On The Effectiveness Of Automated Writing Evaluation In College Students’ English Writing

With the rapid development and application of modern information technology,Automated Writing Evaluation(AWE) system has been increasingly applied in English teaching. By providing instant feedback on students’ writing and reducing teacher’s workload, AWE has become popular among teachers and students. However, studies on the differences between AWE feedback and instructors’ feedback on the process of improving learners’ writing proficiency are insufficient. Thus, the present research carried out a comparative study on the development of students’ writing under AWE feedback and instructors’ feedback. Through feedback text analyses and a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses of the questionnaire and interview, the author compared the difference of AWE feedback and instructors’ feedback and their respective effects on the writing improvement process of different level learners. The research questions are(1) Is AWE system an effective tool to improve students’ writing proficiency?(2) What’s the difference between AWE feedback and the instructors’ feedback in content?(3) How do the two types of feedback affect different-proficiency students’ writing development?The present study took Pigai.org as the instructional AWE tool. A total of 89non-English major freshmen from three classes and two teachers participated in the present research. The subjects were divided into three groups--- control group A and experimental groups B and C. The control group did not use AWE system and got feedback from teachers, while experimental groups B and C both adopted AWE as an instructional tool and got feedback from it. Group C received instructors’ feedback additionally. The whole experiment lasted for one-semester and the entire feedback process of the five writing tasks were included. Then the students’ writing ability was assessed in pretest and post-test. To compare the characteristics of the two different types of feedback and their effect on the process of learners’ writing development, the present study performed text analysis on the contents of AWE feedback and instructors’ feedback; furthermore, questionnaire and interview of students from experimental groups were also administered at the end of term.Results indicate that, firstly, AWE system can effectively improve students’ writing proficiency to some extent, especially in grammar and vocabulary. Secondly, AWEfeedback has an advantage in grammar and vocabulary as it provides extra expanded information on the two aspects, which can effectively improve students’ grammar and vocabulary ability. However, instructors’ feedback has more advantage in content and organization of writing, which can provide targeted and clear suggestions according to different compositions. Thirdly, by providing instant feedback, AWE system motivates students to rewrite and revise their compositions, which conforms to the writing development mechanism of Formative Assessment and Process Approach. Results of interview show that, to some extent, AWE system is more beneficial for low-and medium-level learners, while high-level students benefits more from instructors’ feedback. Furthermore, the combination of the two kinds of feedback can make the maximum use of AWE system in the teaching of English writing.