technology application: the Criterion Online Essay Evaluation Service, a web-based system that provides automated scoring and evaluation of student essays. Criterion has two complementary applications: (1) Critique Writing Analysis Tools, a suite of programs that detect errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics, that identify discourse elements in the essay, and that recognize potentially undesir...

Abstract This opinion piece emerged from research for the book, Story Machines: How Computers Have Become Creative Writers , by Mike Sharples and Rafael Pérez y Pérez, published Routledge. While thinking of ways to promote I realised that students could employ AI story generators write essays. That led me automated essay writing, a Twitter thread has garnered 43,000 engagements, author blog art...

automated feedback that helps them revise their work and ultimately improve their writing skills. These applications also address educational researchers’ interest in individualized instruction. Specifically, feedback that refers explicitly to students’own writing is more effective than general feedback.3 Our discourse analysis software, which is embedded in Criterion (www.etstechnologies.com),...

Various word-processing system have been developed to identify grammatical errors and mark learners’ essays. However, they are not specifically developed for Malaysian ESL (English as a second language) learners. A marking tool which is capable to identify errors in ESL writing for these learners is very much needed. Though there are numerous techniques adopted in grammar checking and automated...

Although freewriting strategies are commonly taught in composition courses, there have been few empirical studies on freewriting. We address this gap by examining effects of prior writing skills (as measured by a pre-write essay), freewriting training, text-box size (1, 10, 20 lines), and repetitive writing on freewriting quality. Participants watched an agent-based vicarious learning freewriti...

There appears to be little research on the standard of post-16 students’ writing and how it can be improved. In respect of such students, the focus of teaching professionals seems to be on content rather than on the writing process; arguably this leads to weaknesses in written expression. This article examines some current research and follows one teacher’s attempts to put in place some strateg...