AI-Facilitated Article Revisions for Primary School Students With Writing Difficulties: Effects of a Large Language Model-Based PDRPE Approach on Writing Performance, Attitude and Anxiety

Background

Primary school is key to developing writing skills. However, students may face challenges in identifying and revising articles due to weak language skills, organisational thinking, comprehension, and analytical skills. Therefore, improving the writing skills of primary school students with writing difficulties has become important.

Objective

Conventional writing instruction often lacks immediate, targeted feedback, whereas large language models (LLMs) offer personalised support to help students with writing difficulties improve their writing quality.

Method

This study proposed an LLM-supported PDRPE (plan, draft, revise, present, and evaluate) approach and explored its impact on the writing performance, learning attitude, and writing anxiety of primary school students with writing difficulties. Through screening, 56 participants were recruited. Among them, 29 students in the experimental group adopted the LLM-based PDRPE approach, while 27 students in the control group used the C-PDRPE approach.

Results and Conclusions

The results showed that although there was no significant difference in the number of words, the LLM-based PDRPE approach better facilitated students' writing performance regarding the basic competence index (including the level of detail, expression, rhetoric, and vocabulary, and transitions) and other hard measurement indexes (including the number of sentences, typo rate, and punctuation error rate). Additionally, the LLM-based PDRPE approach better improved students' writing attitude and alleviated writing anxiety. Moreover, the interview results indicated that the LLM-based PDRPE approach is effective in supporting the revision process. Therefore, this study provides valuable references and insights for future research on the application of LLM and effective instruction for students with writing difficulties.