Amid the growing interest in generative AI technologies like ChatGPT for educational purposes, this research seeks to better understand Chinese EFL learners' acceptance and usage of them for L2 writing purposes. This study conducts an investigation by establishing a structural equation model that incorporates the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)…

This study examines the potential of ChatGPT to enhance grammar development in an academic writing context, where grammar instruction is often overlooked. Adopting a qualitative case study, this research explores how a localized version of ChatGPT can assist first-year undergraduate students in improving their grammar in writing tasks. The study…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is useful to English as a foreign language (EFL) learners, but there is a paucity of research on how they perceive AI. Contextualized in a Chinese university setting, this study investigated Chinese university EFL learners' perceptions of Grammarly in English writing. Based on an extended technology acceptance model…

Automated written corrective feedback (AWCF) tools play a crucial role in supporting English writing instruction. However, issues such as insufficient accuracy and hallucination have undermined users' trust in these systems. To address these challenges, this study investigates the potential of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) enhanced by…

Despite growing interest in exploring the application of chatbots in language education, studies on the process of chatbot-assisted language learning are scant. This qualitative study uses activity theory to understand how English as a foreign language students engage with a chatbot, Argumate, when composing argumentative essays. Five Chinese…

Amidst the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, this study investigates the impact of Problem-based Language Learning (PBLL) using DingTalk on enhancing Business English Writing skills among Chinese undergraduates. Employing a mixed-method approach, the research involved two phases. In the quantitative phase, a twelve-week quasi-experimental…

An increasing number of international students pursue doctoral studies in China, a non-traditional learning destination compared with English-dominated Western countries. Despite considerable research on the challenges doctoral students face when writing theses in English in Western countries, relatively few studies have explored comparable issues…

This experimental study, and partial replication of Sun and Hu (2020), examined how and to what extent direct (i.e., hands-on corpus use) or indirect (i.e., hands-off corpus use) online data-driven learning (DDL) modules were able to assist Chinese writers from an English as a foreign language (EFL) context in using more appropriate hedging (i.e.,…

Nowadays, theoretic and empirical research into affix acquisition in Second Language Acquisition has attracted increasing attention (Peng Tingting, 2009; Zhao Ming, 2014; Chen Jie, 2017). However, there are still few empirical studies on affix acquisition of Chinese English learners, especially from the perspective of corpus linguistics. The…

This study explored the role of written languaging (WL) in response to automated written corrective feedback (AWCF) in L2 accuracy improvement in English classrooms at a university in China. A total of 254 freshmen enrolled in intermediate composition classes participated, and they wrote 4 essays and received AWCF. A half of them engaged in WL…

Collaborative learning in online contexts is emotionally challenging for language learners. To achieve successful learning outcomes, language learners need to regulate their emotions and sustain positive emotions during the collaborative learning process. This study investigated language learners' emotion regulation and enjoyment, the most…

Writing is one of productive skills and a way of conveying information considered to be the most complex and the most challenging skill for EFL English learners to acquire, hence many studies have been conducted on the revelation of the characteristic of writings of EFL learners and how to improve them. Among them, pronoun study has attracted…

AWCF can facilitate academic writing development, especially for novice writers of English as a foreign language (EFL). Existing AWCF studies mainly focus on teacher and learner perceptions; fewer have investigated the error-correction effect of AWCF and factors related to the effect. Especially lacking is research on how successfully students can…

This study compared the effects of teacher feedback (TF) and online automated feedback (AF) on the quality of revision of English writing. It also examined the strengths and weaknesses of the two types of feedback perceived by English language learners (ELLs) as a foreign language (FL). Sixty-eight Chinese students from two English classes…

This article reports on an exploratory study which investigated the impact of automated feedback in a writing class among some Chinese EFL university learners who were at a lower language level. In particular, the study explored the students' perceptions of Pigai, the largest and most popular locally designed automated writing evaluation system…