The mediating and moderating roles of achievement goal orientation in the relationship between AI writing feedback and English writing self-efficacy among Chinese university students

This study investigates how AI-generated writing feedback influences English writing self-efficacy among Chinese university students and examines the dual role of achievement goal orientation as both a mediator and a moderator in this relationship. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was implemented with 148 s-year English majors over a 12-week semester. Participants in the experimental group received feedback from a GPT-4-based automated evaluation platform, while the control group received conventional teacher feedback. Writing self-efficacy, achievement goal orientation, and AI feedback perception were measured at both time points. Results indicated that AI feedback significantly enhanced writing self-efficacy ( d = 0.94), with the largest gains in ideation and self-regulation. Mediation analysis revealed that mastery-approach goal orientation partially mediated the feedback–efficacy relationship, accounting for 33.4% of the total effect, whereas performance-approach orientation did not function as a significant mediator. Moderation analysis showed that mastery-approach orientation amplified the positive effect of AI feedback on self-efficacy, while performance-approach orientation attenuated it. A moderated mediation model confirmed that the indirect effect through mastery-approach goals varied across learner motivational profiles. These findings extend social cognitive theory into AI-mediated pedagogical contexts and suggest that instructors should incorporate goal-framing activities to maximize the efficacy-building potential of AI writing tools.