Automated Writing Evaluation: Awareness, Perceptions, and Expectations of Korean English Teachers and Students

초록

Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) has been used for nearly 70 years, initially for high-stakes testing and recently integrated into writing instruction. The present study investigated (1) the current state of English writing instruction in Korean secondary schools, (2) teachers' and students' awareness and perceptions of AWE, and (3) their expectations of AWE. Approximately 300 Korean EFL teachers and students participated in a web-based survey. The findings are as follows. Most teachers incorporated English writing into their regular classes with only a small percentage of teachers teaching essay writing, while most students relied on private education and tutoring to improve English writing. Teachers viewed a lack of time and large class sizes as being the main obstacles to writing instruction and feedback. Both teachers and students generally expressed positive attitudes toward the use of AWE, emphasizing its potential as an instructional and learning tool that provides immediate linguistic feedback, rather than merely functioning as a scoring machine. Both groups expected AWE to focus on grammatical feedback as they can address semantic issues themselves. To meet these expectations, a future Korean AWE model should be capable of enhancing instructional support and incorporating common writing errors specific to Korean learners.

키워드