CogniWrite

Contemporary higher education faces a digital paradox in which technology abundance coincides with declining cognitive engagement, posing particular challenges for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction. This study examines CogniWrite—an AI-enhanced smart handout system integrating CEFR standards with cognitive activation strategies—among Indonesian EFL learners. Theoretically, CogniWrite operationalizes a dual encoding pathway through three synergistic components: manual writing activating motor-visual encoding via the production effect, reflective scaffolding promoting semantic-elaborative processing aligned with Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, and QR-code-mediated adaptive feedback grounded in retrieval practice principles. A quasi-experimental design compared 100 undergraduate students (experimental n = 50, control n = 50) at B1–B2 level over 14 weeks, with pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test (four-week washout) assessments using CEFR-aligned rubrics. Both productive skills improved substantially: writing (d = 0.756, p < .001) and speaking (d = 0.789, p < .001), with consistent advantages favoring CogniWrite. Writing retention (d = 0.854) surpassed speaking retention (d = 0.668)—diverging from a priori psycholinguistic predictions and interpretable through the dual encoding mechanism. For EFL practitioners, curriculum designers, and policy makers in resource-constrained contexts, the findings demonstrate that pedagogical and technological sophistication are dissociable design dimensions.