Role of AI for corrective feedback in ESL academic writing

Corrective feedback (CF) is a pedagogical process of developing English as a Second Language (ESL) academic writing for non-native English-speaking (NNES) students. Given that ESL academic writing entails grammatical accuracy, coherent structure, and scholarly discourse, the importance of the feedback mechanism rises remarkably. The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized ESL education all around the world with its prompt and reliable feedback. However, enigmas remain about the ability of AI to challenge higher-order writing skills and adapt to the individual needs of the ESL learners. This qualitative study aimed to explore the role of AI feedback in developing the academic writing skills of NNES graduate students at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada. The study used an anonymous questionnaire survey and direct interviews with the participants to collect necessary data. The survey data were analyzed using a descriptive statistics approach. The interview data were presented through thematic analysis. The findings reveal that AI feedback significantly improves grammatical accuracy and structural coherence in NNES students' academic writings, though its efficacy diminishes for advanced writing aspects such as research-based assignments. Participants also expressed their concerns about losing personal writing competency due to over-reliance on AI feedback tools and AI's negative impact on the environment through excessive water consumption for data centers' cooling systems. Such results inform ongoing discussions about AI feedback by highlighting both the potential and limitations of AI tools for CF in ESL academic contexts. The study concludes by advocating a hybrid approach for CF, incorporating the technical balance of AI with the profound knowledge of humans and addressing both competence and pedagogical substance.