Due to high efficiency in writing assessment and timeliness in provision of feedback, Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) systems have been widely taken as computer-assisted language learning tools in EFL or ESL writing settings. Against such a background, endless action research and empirical studies have been conducted, mainly covering the following research topics: the reliability of the AWE systems in essay scoring, the validity of these systems, their effectiveness in ameliorating language learners’ (usually EFL learners’) writing competence, the accuracy of AWE feedback, learners’ utilization of AWE feedback in essay revision, and learners’ stances of AWE systems. Besides the aforementioned aspects, I propose a special issue on one under-investigated and largely ignored topic: the application of Automated Writing Evaluation systems and EFL/ESL learners’ experiences. Researchers can focus on the following sub-topics:

(1) The psychological and emotional states EFL/ESL learners may experience in composing and revising essays with the help of AWE systems;

(2) The possibility of changes in EFL/ESL learners’ authorial identity when they are employing AWE systems to write and revise essays;

(3) The system-based peer-review processes of the EFL/ESL learners: characteristics, individual differences and underlying causes.

Although a few researchers have addressed AWE users, their investigations are not deep enough. To paint a deeper and clearer picture of AWE users, more studies are needed.