Innovation in Language Learning

Feedback on student’s writing is an important part of the EFL learning context.  For it to be effective, it should be immediate and useful to the student (Alderson, 2005) (Hyland, 2006).  Often, teachers do not have time to give immediate feedback.  This program was designed (Roxifyonline.com) to aid the students in self correction and Independent Learning (IL). As the focus of Roxifyonline is vocabulary usage in academic writing, this allows students to get feedback on an area they feel less confident in, without the need of teacher support. As IL plays an important role in student learning, the program does not give corrective feedback but rather, it provides links to materials for further self-directed learning.

This demo will show the features of the automated essay feedback system. The system itself looks at a variety of language features required for academic writing.  Some are the usage of the AWL, cohesive devices, duplicated words, pronoun usage, source inclusion, and clichés and idiomatic expressions. In the online version, these features are separated so students can choose which aspect of the program they want to use. 

Sample papers will be shown, and teachers will be provided with a link to use the program with their own classes as well as useful classroom activities to help students understand how to best use the program for their own purposes. It is requested that participants bring a student paper and source texts if they wish to try it with their own materials.

Keywords: automated essay feedback, independent learning, online feedback, essay writing