USING GRAMMARLY AS A TOOL FOR CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK

Tóm tắt

The increasing use of automated writing support tools has created new possibilities for supporting academic writing instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. Among these tools, Grammarly has attracted attention as an additional source of feedback to assist students during revision. This study, employing a mixed-method design, investigates Grammarly as a corrective feedback tool among 73 fourth-year English-majored students at Phan Thiet University (PTU). It focuses on three areas: students’ attitudes toward Grammarly, how they use Grammarly during the writing process, and how they evaluate its effectiveness in academic writing. First, quantitative data were collected from multiple versions of the same essay, together with an analytic scoring rubric, individual writing profiles, error analysis, and a 39-item questionnaire. Second, qualitative data were gathered from 11 reflection journals and 11 follow-up semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, and thematic analysis. The findings show that the overall mean score increased from 2.79 in the original draft to 4.01 in the teacher-feedback revised version and 4.22 in the Grammarly-feedback revised version. Questionnaire results also indicate generally positive attitudes toward Grammarly: 80.23% of students agreed that Grammarly was a useful tool for academic writing, 84.84% reported that they would continue using it, and 78.09% agreed that it should be used as a support tool, whereas only 21.92% agreed that it could replace teacher feedback. The qualitative findings further show that students used Grammarly mainly after completing a first draft, as a revision and proofreading tool. Overall, the study suggests that Grammarly can support academic writing instruction as a useful complementary feedback tool, while functioning most effectively alongside teacher guidance.