ENHANCING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' ACADEMIC WRITING THROUGH AI-ASSISTED FORMATIVE FEEDBACK IN EFL EDUCATION

Abstract

The rapid development of generative artificial intelligence has created new opportunities for English language teachers to provide timely and individualized support in academic writing. This article examines AI-assisted formative feedback as a pedagogical strategy for university EFL classes. It focuses on the ways AI-generated feedback can support revision, language accuracy, organization, learner autonomy and feedback literacy while maintaining the central role of teacher judgement. The study is based on an analytical review of recent empirical research on ChatGPT and automated written feedback in EFL/ESL writing. The analysis indicates that AI feedback is most productive when it is embedded in a process-oriented writing cycle and combined with teacher mediation, peer discussion and student reflection. A practical model is proposed in which students draft independently, request criterion-based AI feedback, evaluate the suggestions critically, revise selectively and receive teacher guidance on higher-order issues. The article argues that AI should function as a formative assistant rather than as a substitute author or autonomous assessor. Such an approach can help English teachers make feedback more immediate and dialogic while protecting academic integrity and students’ responsibility for their own texts.