The Impact of AI-Assisted Adaptive Feedback on University Students’ Engagement, Academic Emotions, and Self-Regulated Learning

This study explored the impact of AI-assisted adaptive feedback (FB) on Iranian EFL university students’ engagement (SE), academic emotions (AE), and self-regulated learning (SRL). A pretest–posttest control group design was adopted, with a total of 83 learners assigned to either an experimental group that received AI-based FB or a control group that was provided with traditional instructor FB. The intervention was implemented over an eight-week instructional period. Information was gathered through established questionnaires measuring engagement, emotional experiences, and self-regulation, and the data were analyzed using ANCOVA to account for initial differences in pretest scores, prior GPA, and digital literacy. The analysis showed that students exposed to AI-assisted FB displayed higher engagement, more positive academic emotions, and stronger SRL than those in the control group. Among the measured outcomes, the largest improvement was observed in self-regulated learning, followed by engagement and emotional measures. These results highlight the capacity of AI-assisted FB to deliver tailored support, enhance learner autonomy, and strengthen both cognitive and emotional dimensions of language learning. From a pedagogical standpoint, incorporating AI FB into writing, speaking, and task-oriented activities can help learners remain motivated, track their own progress, and achieve better long-term learning results.