Leveraging Hybrid Intelligence: How Teacher Agency Influences Behavioural Engagement in Human-AI Collaborative Writing Feedback Practices
- 1 College of Professional and Continuing Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
- 2 The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Abstract
The prevalent use of AI technology in education has sparked versatile innovations for pedagogical enhancement. Teachers possess unique and irreplaceable qualities that are crucial to education. In the context of L2 students’ genre-based writing, it remains an open question how GenAI and human teachers’ feedback can complement each other to enhance students’ learning outcomes. This study compares 14 feedback reports from teacher markers who utilised AI-recommended action points to varying degrees with the original AI-generated feedback report of a sample book review, along with data from a focus group interview and 12 reflective journals. It explores how teachers and Generative AI collaboratively construct feedback through an interactive AI-assisted platform tailored for genrebased writing. This study highlights the importance of teacher engagement and teacher agency in AI-enabled settings. The results reveal the complementary strengths of Generative AI (GenAI) and teachers in feedback practices. However, its effectiveness relies on teachers’ critical engagement and familiarity with technology. A balanced approach is essential to maximise benefits and address challenges in AI-assisted feedback. Based on our findings, a theoretical model illustrating teachers’ behavioural engagement with GenAI feedback has been derived to evaluate the effectiveness of AIassisted feedback. This model highlights teachers’ engagement with the GenAI feedback based on their agency, influenced by their capacity and willingness to perceive and shape the affordances of GenAI feedback. This research contributes to the ongoing conversation on the future of feedback delivery in an AI-driven world.
Keywords
Full text
The full text of this article is available as a PDF download.
Download full article (PDF)How to cite
Deng, C., Lin, S., Tong, E. K., & Ma, J. (2026). Leveraging Hybrid Intelligence: How Teacher Agency Influences Behavioural Engagement in Human-AI Collaborative Writing Feedback Practices. International Journal of TESOL Studies, 8(1), 82–107. https://doi.org/10.58304/ijts.251108

