Process Writing Meets AI: A Hybrid Model for Teaching German Academic Writing Structure in the Merdeka Belajar Era
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65150/EP-jsshrs/V2E10/2026-11Keywords:
process writing, generative AI, German as a foreign language, academic writing structure, Merdeka BelajarAbstract
Purpose: This study examined whether a hybrid pedagogical model that combines process writing with generative artificial intelligence (AI) feedback improves German-as-a-Foreign-Language (DaF) learners' command of academic writing structure under Indonesia's Merdeka Belajar–Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) policy, in a model where the writer, not the AI tool, remains the decision-maker.
Methods: A mixed-methods, nonequivalent control-group quasi-experiment was conducted with 42 undergraduate German Language Education students in two intact classes (n = 21 each) over one semester. The experimental class followed a Hybrid Process-AI Writing Model (staged drafting, structured AI feedback, teacher conferencing); the comparison class received conventional process writing instruction. Essays were scored with an analytic rubric and analyzed with ANCOVA (pretest as covariate, Holm adjustment); interviews with eight focal students were analyzed thematically.
Findings: After controlling for pretest scores, the classes did not differ on the total structure score, F(1, 39) = 0.70, p = .409, partial η² = .02, or on any rubric dimension (all Holm-adjusted p = 1.000); effect sizes were small and inconsistent in direction (d from −0.33 to 0.18). Both classes improved substantially, and they were not equivalent at pretest on paragraph organization/argumentation.
Implications: The study found no evidence that the hybrid model outperformed teacher-only process writing within one semester; given its limited power, the null result is inconclusive rather than evidence of equivalence.
Originality: This is among the first comparison-group classroom studies of a hybrid process-AI model for DaF academic writing, reporting a transparent, pre-specified null result.
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