Uncovering the impacts of technology literacies and acceptance on emotion regulation, resilience, willingness to communicate, and enjoyment in Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Assessment (ICALA): an experimental study

Abstract

Acquiring technological literacy and acceptance has a significant influence on academic emotion regulation (AER), academic resilience (AR), willingness to communicate (WTC), and academic enjoyment (AE), which are crucial for the success of university students. However, this area has not been adequately explored in research, particularly in the context of Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Assessment (ICALA). This study aimed to bridge the existing information gap by examining the impact of technology literacies and acceptance on the AER, AR, WTC, and AE levels among Uzbek university students enrolled in virtual English as a foreign language (EFL) programs with online evaluation. Quasi-experimental research was carried out with 67 university students pursuing a degree in Applied linguistics to assess the potential underlying connections. Throughout the semester, students in the experimental group were provided with instructional feedback to foster technology literacies and acceptance through a private group on Telegram. This feedback assisted them in acquiring pertinent information to improve the application of technology in language learning and assessment. Based on the results, students in EG fared better than their counterparts in the control group in terms of AER, AR, WTC, and AE in ICALA. The data indicates that in the ICALA setting, EFL learners experience unpleasant emotions, a lack of resilience, unenjoyment, and an unwillingness to communicate due to a lack of knowledge in the application of technology. The implications of the study are examined in further detail.