JAAL in JACET 2025 Conference

Optimizing LLM Writing Feedback through Instructional Prompting: 

A Comparative Analysis of Its Impact vs. Human Teacher Feedback

The 8th JAAL (Japan Association for Applied Linguistics) in the JACET (Japan Association of College English Teachers) Conference (JAAL in JACET 2025) was held on Saturday, December 6, at Ritsumeikan University's Osaka-Ibaraki Campus in Osaka, Japan. I presented a session titled "Optimizing LLM Writing Feedback through Instructional Prompting: A Comparative Analysis of Its Impact vs. Human Teacher Feedback."

My research addressed the core investigation: How can prompts be skillfully phrased to improve the quality of LLM-generated feedback for English argumentative writing? The goal is to enhance writing proficiency and critical thinking and foster more meaningful interactions for multilingual learners.

Through comparative A/B testing between a Baseline Prompt and a Rhetorically-Informed Prompt, the presentation demonstrated a significant shift in pedagogical impact. The findings showed that the rhetorically-informed approach dramatically increased Rhetorical Relevance (+3.4 mean score increase) and Pedagogical Engagement (+2.9 mean score increase) compared to the passive baseline. The presentation concluded by advocating for LLMs to be utilized as aids, not replacements, for a writer who remains independent. It argues that the prompt is a strategic artifact that preserves writer agency by demanding articulation and externalizing the revision process.