Teachers' Attitudes towards the Effectiveness of the Write & Improve Platform in Enhancing EFL Students' Writing Proficiency: The Case of First Year University Students

Abstract

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in language education has brought increasing attention to Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tools, yet research has focused predominantly on learner outcomes, leaving teachers' perspectives largely unexplored. This gap is particularly significant in Algeria, where EFL students continue to struggle with writing proficiency, and where teachers serve as the primary agents of any pedagogical innovation. In an environment where writing instruction is constrained by large class sizes, limited feedback opportunities, and traditional assessment methods, understanding how teachers perceive tools like the Write & Improve platform becomes essential for evaluating their potential. For that reason, this research's focal incentive is to investigate teachers' attitudes toward the Write & Improve platform as a pedagogical support for enhancing EFL students' writing proficiency. To achieve this end, we administered a teacher's questionnaire to four teachers who teach writing classes at the Department of Letters and English at the University of Kasdi Merbah Ouargla, each managing an experimental group (with the platform) and a control group (without the platform). Based on the collected data, we draw the conclusion that Algerian EFL teachers hold nuanced attitudes toward the platform, recognizing its value for immediate feedback and revision support while expressing concerns about its limitations for higher-order writing skills and the lack of institutional training. The findings show that teachers' attitudes are shaped not only by the platform's features but also by contextual factors including technological self-efficacy, pedagogical beliefs, and institutional support, and that understanding these attitudes is essential for any meaningful assessment of AWE's pedagogical potential.