Exploring the impact of AI, peer, and teacher feedback on university students’ L2 writing feedback literacy

Student writing feedback literacy (FL) has emerged as a critical competence in second language (L2) education, yet most studies focus mainly on teacher or peer feedback, overlooking how feedback from different sources may differentially shape studnets’ FL development. This mixed-methods study explores changes in Chinese university students’ L2 writing feedback literacy across AI-generated, peer, and teacher feedback during a 10-week quasi-experimental intervention. Three intact classes (N = 126) completed pre- and post-tests using the L2 Student Writing Feedback Literacy Scale (L2-SWFLS), and qualitative interviews were conducted with a subsample to understand their perceptions and the processes involved in engaging with these feedback sources. Quantitative findings showed significant improvements in writing feedback literacy for the AI and peer feedback groups, with the AI group showing advantage in acknowledging different feedback sources and the peer group in appreciating feedback, acknowledging different feedback sources, and making judgments. While the teacher feedback group showed limited improvement, with no significant changes in all dimensions. Qualitative data revealed that AI and peer feedback enhanced students’ autonomy and criticality in interpreting and using feedback compared to teacher feedback. These findings highlight the differentiated effects of AI, peer, and teacher feedback on L2 writing feedback literacy and suggest that integrating multiple feedback sources can optimize writing instruction.