A Study on Teacher Feedback and AES Feedback in Chinese College students’ English Writings

Abstract

Feedback holds significant importance in second language writing instruction, as evidenced by numerous studies indicating its direct or indirect impact on the quality of learners’ written work. Despite this recognition, there has been a dearth of comprehensive research concerning the distinct influences of teacher feedback and Automated Essay Scoring (AES) feedback on the writing quality of learners. Addressing this gap, the present study employs a mixed-method approach, integrating both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. By meticulously examining AES feedback, teacher feedback, writing revision logs, and conducting interviews, this investigation identifies noteworthy differentials in the multidimensional aspects of writing quality attributed to these two distinct feedback modalities. Primarily, within the realm of syntactic complexity, lexical richness, fluency, and accuracy, the cohort exposed to teacher feedback demonstrated notably superior performance relative to their AES feedback counterparts. Secondarily, an assessment of revised text quality revealed compelling insights. The ultimate version of the text, stemming from the AES feedback group’s iterative revisions, exhibited marked enhancements in terms of accuracy, total word count, and average word length. In contrast, the initial and final drafts of the teacher feedback group unveiled discernible disparities in vocabulary intricacy, accuracy, total word count, and average word length. Evidently, while the ultimate version did not witness a significant surge in average word length or total word count, it showcased heightened vocabulary sophistication and enhanced accuracy in relation to the initial draft. This study underscores the value of judiciously deploying these two categories of feedback within the landscape of writing instruction. The nuanced benefits of each feedback type can be strategically harnessed to suit distinct writing contexts, thereby augmenting the caliber of learners’ written compositions.