|
Makale Özeti:
|
The purpose of this study is to investigate
whether a grammar checker application, i.e., Grammarly, has
positive effects in the narrative writing of the secondary school
students. In the Malaysian context of English language learning,
the major difficulty that the students encounter would be
writing and it has always been the reason why students cannot
excel in the examination (Chuo, 2004). Thus, this study explores
the effectiveness of Grammarly, a grammar checker computer
application, in aiding secondary students’ narrative writing.
The research is guided by the theories and principles of
Vygotsky’s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and
Knowles’ (1984) Self-Directed Learning approach. This study
employs a quantitative research methodology, which is quasi
experimental approach with non-equivalent control group
design. Participants in this study were 60 form four students
from two different classes in a public primary school in a state
in western part of Peninsular Malaysia. They were divided
equally into an experimental, and a control group and the
students came from the same age group and English language,
particularly English writing proficiency. The data was gathered
for research through pre- and post-tests which were then
analysed using paired sample T-Test. Continuous quantitative
type of observation data (i.e., scores from writing exercises) was
also obtained from their engagement with series of treatment
using the Grammarly grammar checker application. The
findings revealed that the grammar checker aids the narrative
writing among the students in the experimental group,
especially in sentence construction. The results of this study
revealed that at P = .000 alpha level the grammar checker does
aid in the writing of narrative essay among the Form 4 students,
particularly on their use of correct grammar functions (namely
subject-verb agreement, sentence structure, spelling, and
punctuation). The researchers call for more future research on
the grammar checker as it holds opportunities for the students
to progress in their narrative writing. Using grammar checkers
might be a great shift from a traditional learning approach to a
more independent self-directed learning approach among
students.
|