Integrating qualitative learning analytics and retrospective reflections to support formative, process-oriented feedback in EFL writing

This study examined how keystroke logging can function as qualitative learning analytics for assessing EFL learners’ writing and how learners’ reflections support formative, process-oriented feedback. Keystroke data were collected from seventeen Arab EFL learners during a 25-minute essay writing task using GGXLog (version 2.1.1) and analysed through S-notation to trace local-level and text-level revision actions. A total of 2,397 revision actions were identified, of which 63.8% involved local-level corrections targeting spelling, grammar, or punctuation, while 36.2% consisted of text-level elaborations, including clause insertion, cohesive linking, and reflective closure. Although surface accuracy revisions predominated, many local repairs developed into broader textual expansion, indicating that attention to form frequently preceded meaning elaboration. Learners’ retrospective reflections clarified the function of observed revision sequences, supporting the interpretation of keystroke traces as feedback-relevant evidence. The findings show that keystroke logging, analysed qualitatively and interpreted alongside learner reflections, enables writing to be examined as it unfolds.