Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) for Feedback in School Writing: Friend or Foe? - February 2026 - Volume 29, Number 4

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Margaret

Effective writing instruction relies on high-quality feedback, yet teachers face barriers including heavy marking workloads and limited feedback literacy that leave students without sufficient support. Generative AI is presented as a promising way to provide automated writing evaluation and timely responses. Evidence on its impact for writing skills remains inconclusive, and concerns include misuse, overuse, and potential harm to learners’ critical thinking and development. The article examines benefits, limitations, and challenges of GenAI feedback in school contexts and proposes teacher guidelines for ethical integration balanced with human support.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background and problem context

Potential of GenAI for feedback

Evidence gaps and research concerns

Focus on school-based writing contexts

Pedagogical potential and ethical considerations

The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) for Feedback in School Writing: Friend or Foe? ***On the Internet*** February 2026 – Volume 29, Number 4 [https://doi.org/10.55593/ej.29115int](https://doi.org/10.55593/ej.29115int) Soon Koh Poh National Institute of Education-Nanyang Technological University <[soonkoh.poh@nie.edu.sg](soonkoh.poh@nie.edu.sg)> Icy Lee National Institute of Education-Nanyang Technological University <[icy.lee@nie.edu.sg](icy.lee@nie.edu.sg)> Abstract Effective writing instruction depends on quality feedback, yet teachers often face barriers such as heavy marking workloads and limited feedback literacy (Lee, 2021), leaving students without adequate support. Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as a promising tool to address these challenges and offers automated writing evaluation for timely feedback. While existing scholarship on GenAI has largely focused on older learners in tertiary contexts, its potential for school writing remains underexplored (Tseng & Warschauer, 2023) . Concerns persist that younger students may lack the maturity and language proficiency to use GenAI effectively, and that misuse could hinder their development. Although many schools restrict independent use of GenAI by children under 13, young learners increasingly encounter these tools beyond the classroom. Yet, literature on GenAI’s application in school writing contexts remains scarce. This article explores the benefits, limitations, and challenges of GenAI as a feedback tool in schools. It offers guidelines for teachers to leverage GenAI at different stages of the writing process to support students’ development in school. The discussion emphasizes balancing GenAI integration with human intervention to ensure ethical and effective instruction, contributing to the growing scholarship on GenAI with a focus on supporting teachers and students in school contexts. Keywords: Generative AI, Feedback, School Writing Instruction For teachers, providing feedback on students' writing often feels like a never-ending uphill battle—taxing, exhausting, and constrained by time. For students, although they hope that feedback can help them improve their writing, they often end up feeling lost and unsupported due to the overwhelming nature of feedback and limited opportunities for discussion. The debut of ChatGPT in 2022 has presented a promising solution to these challenges. For example, GenAI tools, such as Gemini and ChatGPT, as well as teacher-designed chatbots or AIpowered assistants, can be harnessed to support feedback delivery and enable students to receive immediate responses, regardless of time or location, thereby facilitating their writing development. Although teachers and students may view GenAI as a potential panacea for their feedback challenges and writing struggles, research findings on the effectiveness of GenAI in enhancing writing skills are inconclusive. Scholars such as Bui and Barrot (2025) and Kohnke et al. (2023) have called for further exploration of GenAI to support students ’ development as writers. In addition, recent studies have highlighted the drawbacks associated with the use of GenAI by students. For example, inappropriate use and overuse of GenAI may undermine academic integrity and hinder the development of students ’ critical thinking skills (Feng et al., 2025) . Much of the existing scholarship on GenAI in writing feedback has focused on older learners. For instance, Kostka and Toncelli (2023) offered a comprehensive examination of ChatGPT’s applications in English language teaching, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges associated with GenAI integration in higher education contexts. Their study focused on undergraduate and graduate learners, emphasizing how ChatGPT can support language learning in specialized courses such as public speaking and academic listening and speaking for internationa

FAQs

Why is feedback in school writing instruction challenging for teachers and students?

Teachers often face heavy marking workloads and limited feedback literacy, while students may feel lost and unsupported due to overwhelming feedback and limited opportunities for discussion.

What does the article suggest GenAI can do for writing feedback in schools?

GenAI tools can support feedback delivery by enabling students to receive immediate responses that can facilitate writing development across different times and locations.

What risks and limitations are highlighted regarding GenAI use by students?

Research findings are inconclusive about effectiveness, and inappropriate use or overuse may undermine academic integrity and hinder students’ critical thinking and writing development.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Margaret