ABSTRACT The integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing instruction has emerged as a significant focus in pedagogical research. Studies on ChatGPT in EFL writing instruction have predominantly focused on examining its effectiveness in comparison with teacher feedback or peer feedback. However, there is a dearth of research on how EFL students' contextual factors (e.g., teacher support) interact with their motivational factors (e.g., L2 motivation) and affective emotions (e.g., foreign language enjoyment FLE and foreign language anxiety FLA) to influence their writing feedback engagement in ChatGPT‐mediated language learning environments. By integrating the self‐determination theory (SDT) and control‐value theory (CVT), this study conceptualises a novel pathway elucidating writing feedback engagement within this emerging environment. The study surveyed 269 Chinese tertiary EFL students and employed a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to explore the relationships among the above‐mentioned variables. The findings revealed that teacher support exerted an indirect effect on students' engagement with ChatGPT‐mediated feedback through the mediating role of FLE. Students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation directly and positively predicted writing feedback engagement. Their FLE and FLA played full mediating roles in the association between amotivation and writing feedback engagement. The present study highlights the continued applicability of SDT and CVT while assessing their explanatory scope in this novel writing context. Language teachers are advised to cultivate a learning environment characterised by autonomy support and psychological safety, thereby empowering learners to take ownership of the human‐GenAI interaction and ultimately sustaining their writing feedback engagement.
Wang et al. (2026) studied this question.