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Introduction
All around the globe, computers have been used for language education but in Pakistan, integration of computers and specifically computer-assisted language learning (CALL) started a few years back (Ayesha, 2022). It is because higher education authorities felt the need to inculcate CALL in classrooms to facilitate the process of English language learning. Learning English provides opportunities to people to get jobs in the highly competitive labour market for trade, commerce, technology, education and numerous other fields (Garcia-Ponce, 2020). In education, it is a medium of instruction, the leading language for international communication and research (Mahboob, 2014). According to Pinon and Haydon (2010), business employers prefer candidates who are proficient in English and perform well in academics. That is why, from all over the globe, speakers of other languages are determined to learn English language throughout the year.
In Pakistan, the English language also has a distinctive status because of social and cultural needs that connect it to the education set-up (Anbreen, 2015). It is considered ubiquitous in the education set-up for two reasons: first, it is a core subject from preschool to higher education (Mahboob, 2017), and second, it is the medium of instruction (Coleman, 2010). Schools, colleges and universities have set the criteria that the medium of instruction should be English language (Jamil et al., 2016) because it helps to maintain a better understanding of subjects and improves students’ English language proficiency for the future workforce. In addition, a growing number of universities require a compulsory English exam from admission until degree completion (Waseem et al., 2015), which shows the importance of this language.
The importance of English will continue to flourish in Pakistani universities (Zaidi and Zaki, 2017), as it adds powerful elements inside and outside the education system (Khan et al., 2020). For example, dealing at an international level demands proficiency in English writing skills (Siddiqui, 2020). From all forms of English language skills, such as listening, reading and speaking, writing is considered at a more “elevated level” of intelligence (Khan et al., 2020). Fadda (2012) defined it as a thinking process that involves cognitive skills and requires ample training and exposure to the information. Similarly, academic writing is a cognitive activity that helps students score well...