Checking essays written by students is a very time consuming task. Besides spellings and grammar, they also need to be evaluated on their semantic content such as cohesion, coherence, etc. In this study we focus on one such aspect of semantic content which is the topic of the essay. Putting it formally, given a prompt or essay-statement and an…

Grounded in the activity theory, we adopted a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach to explore the impact of automated written corrective feedback (AWCF) on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' academic writing skills (i.e. task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexicon, and grammatical range and accuracy). To this end, two…

AI-generative tools, such as ChatGPT, are argued to hold the potential to contribute to creative thinking in education broadly and second language education specifically. Nonetheless, existing literature underscores a critical requirement to elucidate the specific nature of this contribution among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) undergraduates…