USING WRITEFULL AS AI-POWERED ENGLISH WRITING ASSISTANT TO IMPROVE PARAGRAPH WRITING PERFORMANCE FOR THE 11TH GRADERS AT A SCHOOL IN THAI NGUYEN

Tran Minh Ngoc, Nguyen Thi Hong Minh

Abstract


This research examined how Writefull, as an online instructional writing Assistant powered by artificial intelligence (AI), can enhance 11th-grade students' paragraph writing performance at Ly Nam De High School, Thai Nguyen province. The study used an action research design to implement, over the course of a 10-week intervention, both quantitative and qualitative measures to determine the writing quality and students' perceptions of Writefull as a support tool. Thirty students participated in the study. Pre-tests and post-tests were used to measure students' writing quality in the areas of grammar accuracy, vocabulary, coherence, and organization. Questionnaire results indicated that students had a positive orientation towards Writefull as an effective learning tool. Results from the writing assessment tool indicated statistically significant improvements with moderate effect sizes in each of the measures of students' writing quality. The students reported a positive view towards Writefull's feedback in real-time as well as the grammar-checking functionality, as the two features they perceived as significant contributors to their writing development; recognized limitations, such as a lack of downloadable app functionality and software compatibility, were provided by some students. The results highlight the potential impact of Writefull as an effective education tool for EFL writing development, as well as the need for continued iterations of the app to improve the technical issues identified by some students and reach a wider audience for in-class applications.

 

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Keywords


Artificial Intelligence, Writefull, paragraph writing, EFL learners, educational technology

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejfl.v9i4.6338

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