Effects Of Automated Writing Evaluation On English Majors’ Writing Performance And Process

Automatic writing evaluation(AWE)systems,as supplementary means of composition evaluation,have been applied in second language writing teaching.While rich studies have examined the impact of automated writing evaluation,they have not reached a consensus conclusion.In addition,quite a few studies focus on the accuracy and reliability of automated writing evaluation systems.However,few AWE studies investigate students’ writing process on AWE systems.The purpose of this study is to probe the effects of the automated writing evaluation on students’ writing performance,writing process,and their perceptions of automated feedback provided by i Write.To fill the research gaps,three research questions were raised:(1)How does the automated writing evaluation system affect students’ writing performance?(2)How does the automated writing evaluation system affect students’ writing process?(3)What are the students’ attitudes towards automated writing evaluation systems?This study conducted a 16-week experiment to examine students’ writing performance,writing process,and attitudes after using i Write in an English Academic Writing course in a university in Northwest China.Two classes,including 60 English majors,participated in the study.These two classes were randomly assigned into an experimental group and a control group.The experiment group was required to submit the assignments on i Write,while the control group did not use the system.Data included the pre-and post-tests,students’ essays in i Write,and the questionnaire.Students’ writing scores were examined by employing SPSS 26.0.The results revealed that:(1)The experiment group students outperformed the control group students in their writing performance to a large extent in the post-test.i Write was successful in developing students’ writing performance,especially in their language and organization.(2)The number of revisions and essay length were increased by using i Write.Students preferred to use the substitution and addition revision strategies rather than the deletion revision strategy.With regard to revision aspects,students appeared to revise mistakes in the small language unit more often,namely,mechanics,morpheme,and word.It reported that automated feedback stimulated students’ enthusiasm for writing and promoted their self-learning ability.(3)Most students held positive attitude toward i Write in providing effective feedback on their writing.Based on these findings,this study guides students to apply the automated writing evaluation system to their writing practice efficiently and suggests teachers combining the automated feedback in their writing instruction to improve students’ writing performance.