【Article by EMI Resource Center】

The NCCU EMI Resource Center successfully held two sessions of the Writefull &Curie Academic Writing Tools Workshops on October 15 and November 14, 2024. The events attracted many faculty and students to participate, which built a vibrant and engaging atmosphere. The workshops aimed to help attendees better understand and utilize cutting-edge academic writing tools to enhance their writing efficiency and quality. The series began with an opening address by Professor Siaw-Fong Chung, the Director of the EMI Resource Center, and was lectured by the center’s writing consultant and a Ph.D. student, Yu-Che Yen, who has extensive experience in using writing tools. Yen provided an in-depth overview of the tools’ features and practical applications.

During the workshops, Yu-Che Yen first introduced Writefull, an AI-powered tool designed specifically for academic writing. Writefull’s main functionality leverages artificial intelligence to automatically correct linguistic errors in academic texts, including grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The tool also provides precise language suggestions to help users refine their writing. Additionally, Writefull offers several intelligent features, such as a paraphraser for rewriting sentences, a sentence palette for converting informal expressions into academic style, an abstract generator, and a title generator to assist with crafting abstracts and titles. The tool also includes a GPT detector, which identifies whether a text was generated by AI tools, thus promoting originality and professionalism. Writefull X is the online version of Writefull, offering in-time language proofreading, style suggestions, and writing enhancement features directly on web platforms. In addition, Writefull for Microsoft Word is an add-in specifically designed for Word, integrating language proofreading, style suggestions, and professional writing tools directly into Word documents, allowing users to enhance their writing efficiency and quality within a familiar environment. Writefull is particularly beneficial for students and researchers, especially non-native English speakers, making it an ideal resource for the NCCU academic community.

Yen then introduced Curie, a collaborative writing tool designed primarily for the academic community. Curie specializes in offering precise stylistic and formatting suggestions to improve the structure and details of academic texts, reducing common errors and enhancing overall quality to meet international publishing standards. One of Curie’s features is its rapid revision capability: users can upload their documents and receive revised versions with tracked changes in a matter of seconds, enabling them to review and learn from the corrections. Unlike many generated AI tools, Curie focuses on enhancing users’ understanding of grammar and writing conventions during the revision process, ultimately improving their writing skills. As NCCU’s library has purchased limited access to Curie, faculty and students can only apply for access keys through the EMI Resource Center.

After the detailed introduction of each tool’s features and advantages, participants moved on to a hands-on practice session. Equipped with their laptops, attendees explored how to use Writefull for analyzing academic articles, including word count checks, term frequency analysis, and usage pattern identification. They also experienced how the tool identifies overused or underutilized terms. Furthermore, participants tested Curie’s revision functions, learning techniques to ensure consistency in formatting and improve structural and grammatical precision. To make the applications of these tools more tangible, Yen demonstrated their use in academic writing scenarios, such as drafting abstracts and generating titles, allowing participants to see their practical value.

The final segment of the workshops featured an interactive Q&A part, where Yen and Prof. Chung addressed individual questions and concerns. Yen provided personalized guidance, troubleshooting login issues, browser compatibility problems, and document upload limitations. He also offered additional learning resources tailored to participants’ needs. The workshops received many positive feedbacks, with many attendees expressing how Writefull and Curie could significantly boost their academic writing efficiency and quality. Several participants eagerly anticipated integrating these tools into their future writing projects.

The EMI Resource Center is committed to supporting the academic community at NCCU by offering diverse services to enhance English writing proficiency and professional skills. In addition to introducing advanced technologies and innovative tools, the center organizes various activities to provide students with expert guidance. Currently, the center offers comprehensive English writing consultations led by experienced educators and teaching assistants (doctoral fellows), addressing issues related to course assignments, academic papers, journal submissions, conference presentations, résumés, cover letters, and standardized tests. The center also uses tablets and PDF editing software during consultations to provide real-time demonstrations and feedback, ensuring students can immediately see actionable improvements.

The EMI Resource Center will continue to focus on advancing academic writing support services and fostering excellence among faculty and students. By doing so, the center aims to empower the NCCU academic community to shine on the global stage and achieve greater success in the field of academic writing.

For writing appointments （available until mid-January 2025 this semester）, please visit: https://www.eminccu.com/writing-consultation
Writefull demonstration and access: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17xj1cWDyA/
For Curie, as the NCCU library has purchased a limited number of document quotas, access requires an activation key. Keys can be obtained by participating in EMI Resource Center events or by requesting one via email at nccu.emi@gmail.com