EFL writers’ cognitive engagement with AWE feedback

This paper reports on a pilot study with advanced EFL learners in Germany who were asked to use ProWritingAid (PWA) for a composition task in a German comprehensive school. PWA is an Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tool that provides writers with feedback on grammar, spelling mistakes, and writing style during the writing and editing process. Students’ engagement with PWA’s suggestions is documented with the help of screen capture software and a change tracker sheet. A coding grid, based on the three dimensions of learner engagement with AWE feedback, is developed in the process of analysing the data. Results indicate that there is cognitive engagement with AWE feedback even when learners reject suggestions for correction. It will be discussed whether episodes of cognitive engagement with AWE can be conceptualised as engagement with language according to Svalberg.