EAP teacher feedback in the age of AI: Supporting first-year students in EFL disciplinary writing

Academic writing is a substantial component of tertiary education, yet it poses challenges for second/foreign language (L2/FL) students, particularly those first-year undergraduates with limited exposure to English-medium-instruction (EMI) settings. In this context, English-for-academic-purposes (E...

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Main Authors: Yiyun Fan, Sheng Tan, Grace Yuk Wan Lim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Castledown Publishers 2024-11-01
Series:Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.castledown.com/journals/ajal/article/view/1943
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author Yiyun Fan
Sheng Tan
Grace Yuk Wan Lim
author_facet Yiyun Fan
Sheng Tan
Grace Yuk Wan Lim
author_sort Yiyun Fan
collection DOAJ
description Academic writing is a substantial component of tertiary education, yet it poses challenges for second/foreign language (L2/FL) students, particularly those first-year undergraduates with limited exposure to English-medium-instruction (EMI) settings. In this context, English-for-academic-purposes (EAP) tutors play a crucial role in supporting these students, but little is known about the nature of their feedback in scholarly discourse. Complicating matters further is the emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) as a feedback tool, sparking ongoing debate about its efficacy compared to traditional human feedback. To address these gaps, this study investigates the nature of EAP teacher feedback on English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) disciplinary writing, juxtaposing it against student opinions and attitudes towards both EAP teacher feedback and AI-generated feedback. This study employed a three-layer coding scheme focusing on corrective, genre-specific, and intentional feedback to analyse the nature of EAP teacher feedback in detail. Through a comprehensive analysis of interview themes, this study highlights the significance of EAP teacher feedback in the context of increasing integration of GenAI tools. The findings offer valuable insights into effective practices for supporting first-year EFL undergraduate students in their academic writing within EMI settings and demonstrate the critical role of EAP teacher feedback in assisting these students’ writing in an AI-prevalent world.
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spelling doaj-art-c3e4c13a409d4fec9e68c98cc6b3935b2024-11-15T13:13:59ZengCastledown PublishersAustralian Journal of Applied Linguistics2209-09592024-11-017310.29140/ajal.v7n3.1943EAP teacher feedback in the age of AI: Supporting first-year students in EFL disciplinary writingYiyun Fan0Sheng Tan1Grace Yuk Wan Lim2The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Academic writing is a substantial component of tertiary education, yet it poses challenges for second/foreign language (L2/FL) students, particularly those first-year undergraduates with limited exposure to English-medium-instruction (EMI) settings. In this context, English-for-academic-purposes (EAP) tutors play a crucial role in supporting these students, but little is known about the nature of their feedback in scholarly discourse. Complicating matters further is the emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) as a feedback tool, sparking ongoing debate about its efficacy compared to traditional human feedback. To address these gaps, this study investigates the nature of EAP teacher feedback on English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) disciplinary writing, juxtaposing it against student opinions and attitudes towards both EAP teacher feedback and AI-generated feedback. This study employed a three-layer coding scheme focusing on corrective, genre-specific, and intentional feedback to analyse the nature of EAP teacher feedback in detail. Through a comprehensive analysis of interview themes, this study highlights the significance of EAP teacher feedback in the context of increasing integration of GenAI tools. The findings offer valuable insights into effective practices for supporting first-year EFL undergraduate students in their academic writing within EMI settings and demonstrate the critical role of EAP teacher feedback in assisting these students’ writing in an AI-prevalent world. https://www.castledown.com/journals/ajal/article/view/1943teacher feedbackEAP teachersEFL students disciplinary writingGenAI feedbackstudents’ perceptions
spellingShingle Yiyun Fan
Sheng Tan
Grace Yuk Wan Lim
EAP teacher feedback in the age of AI: Supporting first-year students in EFL disciplinary writing
Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics
teacher feedback
EAP teachers
EFL students
disciplinary writing
GenAI feedback
students’ perceptions
title EAP teacher feedback in the age of AI: Supporting first-year students in EFL disciplinary writing
title_full EAP teacher feedback in the age of AI: Supporting first-year students in EFL disciplinary writing
title_fullStr EAP teacher feedback in the age of AI: Supporting first-year students in EFL disciplinary writing
title_full_unstemmed EAP teacher feedback in the age of AI: Supporting first-year students in EFL disciplinary writing
title_short EAP teacher feedback in the age of AI: Supporting first-year students in EFL disciplinary writing
title_sort eap teacher feedback in the age of ai supporting first year students in efl disciplinary writing
topic teacher feedback
EAP teachers
EFL students
disciplinary writing
GenAI feedback
students’ perceptions
url https://www.castledown.com/journals/ajal/article/view/1943
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AT shengtan eapteacherfeedbackintheageofaisupportingfirstyearstudentsinefldisciplinarywriting
AT graceyukwanlim eapteacherfeedbackintheageofaisupportingfirstyearstudentsinefldisciplinarywriting