Automated tracking of student revisions in response to teacher feedback in EFL writing: technological feasibility and teachers' perspectives

ABSTRACT

Teacher feedback can be useful in helping English as Foreign Language (EFL) students revise their draft writing. Investigating how EFL students respond to various types of teacher feedback in draft revision has been regarded as an important field of study. However, such investigation is time-consuming and labour-intensive, which limits its practical application in EFL writing classes. To address this issue, this study was designed to explore an initiative to use a systematic method in tracking and analysing student revisions in response to teacher feedback. Firstly, an automated tracking method was proposed and applied to examine the technical feasibility of analysing the effects of teacher feedback on student revisions for 75 EFL undergraduate students from two Hong Kong universities. Secondly, the study explicitly sought to explore teachers’ perspectives on the automated tracking method by interviews. The quantitative results suggest that the automated tracking method can analyse teacher feedback and student revision with high accuracy compared to the manual analysis, while the qualitative results shed light on the benefits and limitations of the method. Overall, our findings provide a basis for further research on harnessing the potential of technology to support teachers in developing their professional feedback practice for EFL writing.

KEYWORDS:

• Automated tracking
• second language writing
• teacher feedback
• student revision

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research is financially supported by Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee: [grant number: 18608816] and The Education University of Hong Kong: [grant number: RG78/2019-2020R].

Notes on contributors

Gary Cheng

Dr Gary Cheng is currently an Associate Professor of the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). His academic background is in computer science, but he has specialised in teaching Information Technology in education for over a decade. With substantial years of work experience in Hong Kong academia, Dr Cheng has built a wealth of knowledge and a network of support to unleash the potential of technology for teacher education. He has a proven track record of exploring and evaluating the use of emerging technologies to enhance teaching and learning. Over the years, Dr Cheng has been involved in research projects funded by EdUHK and the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong on a range of topics mainly related to technology-enhanced language learning.

Gloria Shu-Mei Chwo

Dr Gloria Chwo earned her Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Languages and Linguistics at the University of Essex in U.K. in 2005. She was an Associate Professor at the Applied English Dept since 2005 and was relocated to the College of General Education in 2018, Hungkuang University in Taiwan. Not only has she developed several eLearning programmes for university-level reading courses but has also served as a member of the National Entrance Examination Committee Board in designing reading and writing assessments since 2009. Her research interests include word reading processing, literature circle, EFL and ESP teaching methods, and educational technology. Dr Chwo was also awarded as the Super Teacher in 2013 and participated in the 2014 local MOE project promoting reading programme for ten elementary schools in Taichung. She was appointed as the acting chair of the Language Center since July 2015 and was in charge of the planning draft of the 2016 MOE project titled Enhancing and Integrating Cross Culture Awareness into Freshman English course Curriculum. In Aug 2017, Gloria had engaged in one term academic-industrial collaboration project with Pousin publisher.

Wing Shui Ng

Dr Wing Shui Ng is currently a Research Assistant Professor to devote his efforts for training in-service teachers and conducting educational research in Hong Kong Metropolitan University. He has continuously engaged in international research-related activities. Dr Ng serves as an Associate Editor-in-Chief of The International Journal of Doctoral Studies (IJDS), a Reviewer of papers submitted to international journals and conferences, and a Speaker as well as a Committee Member of international conferences. He has published several academic articles, including journal papers, conference papers, book chapters, and an edited book. His research areas include Information Technology in Education, Educational Assessment and STEM Education.