How Technology Tools Impact Writing Performance, Lexical Complexity, and Perceived Self-Regulated Learning Strategies in EFL Academic Writing: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Students experience different levels of autonomy based on the mediation of self-regulated learning (SRL), but little is known about the effects of different mediation technologies on students' perceived SRL strategies. This mixed explanatory study compared two technology mediation models, Icourse (a learning management system) and Icourse+Pigai (an automatic writing evaluation system), with a control group that did not use technology. A quasi-experimental design was used, which involved a pre and post-intervention academic writing test, an SRL questionnaire, and one-to-one semi-structured student interviews. The aim was to investigate 280 Chinese undergraduate English as a foreign language (EFL) students' academic writing performance, lexical complexity, and perceptions of self-regulated strategies in academic writing. One-way ANCOVA of writing performance, Kruskal-Wallis test of lexical complexity, ANOVA of the SRL questionnaire, and grounded thematic content analysis revealed that, first, both Icourse and Icourse+Pigai provided significant support for the development of SRL strategies vs. the control group, although there was no significant difference between the two groups. Second, Icourse+Pigai-supported SRL was more helpful for improving students' academic writing performance because it enabled increased writing practice and correction feedback. Third, Icourse+Pigai-supported SRL did not significantly improve students' lexical complexity. In conclusion, we argue that both learning management systems and automated writing evaluation (AWE) platforms may be used to assist students' SRL learning to enhance their writing performance. More effort should be directed toward developing technological tools that increase both lexical accuracy and lexical complexity. We conclude that the technical tools used in this study were positively connected to the use of SRL techniques. However, when creating technologically mediated SRL activities, students' psychological study preferences should be considered.

The Effectiveness of Automated Writing Evaluation on Writing Quality: A Meta-Analysis

“…They rated AWE as easy to use, fair, and useful but critiqued the tool in terms of the quantity, specificity, and personalization of the feedback (Roscoe et al, 2017). Teachers were generally positive about the system's utility but still pointed out limitations such as the confusion of some AWE feedback and the inconvenience of incorporating teacher feedback into the system (Han et al, 2021).…”

Integrating Automatic Speech Recognition Technology Into Vocabulary Learning in a Flipped English Class for Chinese College Students

“…In the context of this study, lexical complexity is adopted as an indicator of EFL learners' vocabulary learning performance. In literature, a considerable number of EFL studies have investigated the role of lexical complexity in language learning, but most of their data were written English (e.g., Barrot and Gabinete, 2021;Han et al, 2021). In contrast, few studies have investigated oral lexical complexity in the context of EFL learning (Bulté and Roothooft, 2020).…”

“…In response, the present study seeks to address this gap by examining EFL learners' lexical complexity in their oral English. Although lexical complexity can be investigated through various aspects such as diversity, density and sophistication (Skehan, 2003;Bulté and Housen, 2012), complexity is primarily shaped by lexical diversity, and operationally, lexical diversity is usually the most frequently used measure for assessing lexical complexity (e.g., Ågren et al, 2012;Han et al, 2021) and lexical development (e.g., Crossley et al, 2009). In the current study, therefore, as has been the case for most studies so far, complexity is quantified using lexical diversity in the tripartite CAF framework.…”

Self-Regulated Writing of English Learners: Intervention Development

“…This review of the small body of literature combining SRL and MW shows the mixture of correlational studies that examined relations between SRL and writing performance/quality (Farsani et al, 2014;Zhang, 2016, 2018;Han et al, 2021), four intervention studies reporting on students' writing quality and some SRL skills (Fathi and Feizollahi, 2020;Teng and Zhang, 2020;Altas and Mede, 2021;Chen et al, 2021), or proposed untested SRL writing programs/instructional practices (Oxford, 2011;Andrade and Evans, 2013). While these lines of research contribute to our understanding of how SRL associates with MW and four intervention studies provide initial evidence of improvement in MW and SRL skills, they do not provide conclusive results on how SRL writing instructional methods work in authentic settings.…”

“…Although research has shown that SRL is associated with improved performance by native speakers of English across disciplines and age-groups (Graham, 2006;De Corte et al, 2011;Kitsantas and Kavussanu, 2011;Tonks and Taboada, 2011), research on the usefulness of SRL instruction in developing scholarly writing skills in college students, especially ELs, is scarce and under-developed. A small number of scholars have recognized the importance of SRL in developing writing skills of ELs (Oxford, 2011;Andrade and Evans, 2013;Teng and Zhang, 2016, 2018Fathi and Feizollahi, 2020;Altas and Mede, 2021;Han et al, 2021). Research shows that the SRL processes that occur during writing by ELs are similar to those of native speakers.…”