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Mastering writing in English is crucial for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners; nevertheless, they encounter numerous difficulties, such as idea development, grammar complexities, vocabulary range, or even the pressure from writing anxiety. Consequently, many educators employ digital writing tools to enhance EFL learners' English writing skills. This study aimed to explore Thai EFL university students' perceptions of two digital writing tools, Paragraph Punch and ProWritingAid, as well as to investigate students' writing performance. Participants consisted of 53 undergraduate EFL students enrolled in English education at a university in Thailand. Three research instruments were utilized: a 30-item questionnaire investigating participants' perceptions of writing problems, a pre- and post-writing test assessing students' writing development, and a semi-structured interview exploring students' views on integrating digital writing tools in writing classes. The questionnaire findings emphasized various challenges students encountered in writing, including difficulties with idea development, grammar, and paragraph organization. The research further indicated a significant enhancement in students' writing abilities after using digital writing tools. Additionally, students perceived that the improvements in their writing proficiency were due to the supportive guidance and real-time feedback provided by these digital writing tools. Nevertheless, there were concerns regarding excessive dependency on digital tools, the need for supplementary teacher feedback, and technological barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment is intended to determine the consequences of two artificial intelligence writing assistance tools, namely ProWritingAid and Grammarly, on the writing proficiency of Iranian Intermediate EFL learners. Additionally, the study seeks to ascertain which of these tools, ProWritingAid or Grammarly, exerts a more substantial influence on the writing competency of EFL pupils. A quasi-experimental study design was utilized. Through the Oxford Placement Test, a sample of 96 male students was selected from two private language institutes located in Marand, Iran. Two experimental groups and a control group were formed using a non-random allocation method. Each experimental group utilized one of the artificial intelligence writing aid technologies. Subsequently, an eight-session treatment phase was conducted. Then, one-way ANOVA was adopted to evaluate the results of the writing post-test and it pointed out that both experimental groups accomplished exceedingly well compared to the control group. In addition, it was observed that the group that utilized Grammarly exhibited significantly better performance in comparison to the group that used ProWritingAid. The study's conclusions have major ramifications for educators, language learners, and artificial intelligence writing aid technology developers. Educators have the opportunity to employ artificial intelligence driven writing assistance tools for the purpose of delivering prompt and customized feedback to students.

Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) programs have emerged as the latest trend in EFL writing classes. AWE programs act as a supplementary to teacher feedback and offer automated suggestions and corrections to students' linguistic errors such as grammar, vocabulary, or mechanics. As there is a need for better recognition of different AWE brands utilized for different levels of students, this research sheds light on identifying six university students’ views of an AWE program, namely ProWritingAid (PWA). The six students are categorized as having high or low writing achievement. This descriptive study delineates the students’ perceptions qualitatively. A semi-structured interview was used to collect the data. The findings suggest the students’ positive views of PWA because it could make class time more effective; it had useful feedback on grammar, vocabulary choices, and mechanics; and it built students‘ self-confidence over their compositions. In addition, for different reasons, the students engaged differently with PWA to enhance their drafts, e.g. using PWA only for the first drafts or for the first and final drafts. Finally, despite of the students’ constructive views on PWA, there was a risk that students only engaged superficially with the program by hitting the correction directly.

Abstract: This study investigated the students’ and teacher’s perception, as well as, the merits and demerits of implementing ProWritingAid and teacher feedback in class. The design of this study was a survey research directed in an exclusive classroom setting. Based on the data analysis, it was found that both teacher and students perceived the strategy positively as it can help the students detect, learn, and fix their errors through ProWritingAid and revise their content through teacher feedback. It also helped the teacher in saving time and reduce the teacher’s workload. Abstrak: Penelitian ini menyelidiki persepsi siswa dan guru dalam penerapan metode pemberian umpan balik dari ProWritingAid dan guru di kelas. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah survei yang diarahkan pada satu kelas terntentu. Berdasarkan analisis data yang dikumpulkan, ditemukan bahwa baik guru dan siswa memiliki pandangan positif terhadap strategi yang digunakan. Penggunaan strategu dirasakan positif karena dapat membantu siswa mendeteksi, belajar, dan memperbaiki kesalahan mereka melalui ProWritingAid dan memperbaiki isi paragraf mereka melalui umpan balik guru. Strategi ini juga membantu menghemat waktu dan mengurangi beban kerja guru.