BANKING ACADEMY OF VIETNAM FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ---------- GRADUATION THESIS TOPIC: AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ACCEPTANCE OF USING GRAMMARLY AS AN AUTOMATED WRITING EVALUATION TOOL: A CASE STUDY IN ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT BANKING ACADEMY Student: PHAM THI QUYNH DUONG Class: K23ATCA Academic year: 2020-2024 Student ID: 23A7510027 Instructor: Ms. NGUYEN THI THU TRANG (MA) Hanoi, May 2024 Graduation Thesis Banking Academy DECLARATIONS I hereby declare that this thesis is my own intelligent product, which was done with effort and dedication. I have not submitted this thesis for any previous application for a degree. Whenever contributions from others are mentioned, appropriate acknowledgements are provided, with reference to the literature review, and acknowledgement of research and discussions.
I have thoroughly reviewed the university's research ethics instructions, acknowledging both my responsibilities and the benefits of the people involved. Hanoi, 04th May 2024 Signature Pham Thi Quynh Duong Student: Pham Thi Quynh Duong Student code: 23A7510027 i Graduation Thesis Banking Academy ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the people who have contributed greatly to the successful completion of this thesis. First of all, I would like to convey my sincerest appreciation to my instructor Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang (MA), a lecturer of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Banking Academy for her guidance, comments, and support throughout the entire process.
During the research process, she was always ready to give useful instructions, assessments, and advice for my thesis. This thesis would not have been successfully completed without her dedicated guidance. I also would like to thank all the lecturers of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Banking Academy for providing me with important information related to specific regulations for my graduation thesis. Furthermore, I would like to express my sincere appreciation from the bottom of my heart to my family and friends, who have always been by my side to support and encourage me throughout the thesis conducting process in particular and throughout my whole learning journey in general.
They are the people who motivated and inspired me to keep trying and achieve the results that I have today. And last but not least, I would like to say thanks to the 131 participants who engaged in my survey. The willingness and dedication in their accurate responses contributed greatly to my research. Once again, I would like to express my deepest and sincerest thanks to everyone for encouragement, support and guidance.
Student: Pham Thi Quynh Duong Student code: 23A7510027 ii Graduation Thesis Banking Academy ABSTRACT This study aims to assess the acceptance level of Grammarly among ATC students at the Banking Academy and try to identify the factors influencing the decision to use the platform. Quantitative data from an online survey of 131 ATC students were analyzed, utilizing the conceptual framework which was adopted from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This model investigated the significance of factors including ease of use, usefulness, attitude, and behavioral intention in shaping the actual utilization of Grammarly. Quantitative statements were categorized into specific factors to provide deeper insights into students' preferences regarding Grammarly's usage for writing evaluation.
Findings revealed that ease of use and usefulness were primary elements in fostering positive attitudes and behavioral intentions to use Grammarly among ATC students. Particularly, students preferred Grammarly for evaluating grammar, spelling, and punctuation, but its utility in detecting sentence structure, word choice, and idea development errors was less considered. This shows that Grammarly is a useful tool for evaluating diction and mechanics. From the findings, it is suggested that teachers can tailor feedback approaches to align with students' writing objectives by focusing on aspects valued by students, but it could not be corrected by Grammarly.
Furthermore, students are encouraged to integrate Grammarly appropriately with teacher feedback, enabling a comprehensive evaluation of writing and gradual improvement of writing skills overall. Key words: Writing, Automated Writing Evaluation, Grammarly, Acceptance level, TAM model Student: Pham Thi Quynh Duong Student code: 23A7510027 iii Graduation Thesis Banking Academy TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATIONS. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
vii LIST OF TABLES. viii LIST OF FIGURES.1 Background of the study .2 Objective of the thesis .4 Significance of the study .5 Scope and limitation of the thesis .2 Feedback in writing .1 Definition of feedback.2 Different kinds of feedback .3 The necessary to give feedback in writing instruction .3 Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) .1 Definition of Automated Writing Evaluation. 7 Student: Pham Thi Quynh Duong Student code: 23A7510027 iv Graduation Thesis Banking Academy 2.2 Importance of Automated Writing Evaluation.5 Previous research about Grammarly and perceptions towards using Grammarly as an AWE tool .6 Technology Acceptance Model.1 Technology Acceptance Model .2 Applications of the TAM model in previous research .1 Rationale of methodology .3 Participants of the research .5 Procedures of data analysis. 21 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS.2 Results on the reliability of the scale .3 Results on the factors that contribute to the acceptance of using Grammarly .1 Results on perceived ease of use of Grammarly .2 Results on perceived usefulness of Grammarly .3 Results on attitudes toward using Grammarly .4 Results on behavioral intention to use Grammarly .4 Results on actual use of Grammarly.
29 Student: Pham Thi Quynh Duong Student code: 23A7510027 v Graduation Thesis Banking Academy 4.1 Results on acceptance level of students using Grammarly. 34 CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES .1 Summary of the results.3 Suggestions for further studies. 43 Student: Pham Thi Quynh Duong Student code: 23A7510027 vi Graduation Thesis Banking Academy LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations Interpretation AI Artificial Intelligence ATC students Students from Faculty of Foreign Languages in Banking Academy AWE Automated Writing Evaluation EFL English as a Foreign Language ESL English as a Second Language M Mean SD Standard deviation SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences TAM Technology Acceptance Model Student: Pham Thi Quynh Duong Student code: 23A7510027 vii Graduation Thesis Banking Academy LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Number of students in each academic year Page 20 Table 2: Demographics results Page 22 Table 3.
Summary of the reliability score Page 23 Table 4: Student’s perceived ease of use of Grammarly Page 24 Table 5: Student's perceived usefulness of Grammarly Page 26 Table 6: Student’s attitudes toward using Grammarly Page 27 Table 7: Student’s behavioral intention to use Grammarly Page 28 Table 8: Student’s actual use of Grammarly Page 29 Table 9: Acceptance level of students using Grammarly Page 30 Student: Pham Thi Quynh Duong Student code: 23A7510027 viii Graduation Thesis Banking Academy LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) adopted from Page 15 Davis (1989) Figure 2. Conceptual Framework adapted from Davis (1989) Page 18 Student: Pham Thi Quynh Duong Student code: 23A7510027 ix CHAPTER 1.1 Background of the study English holds a significant role as a widely global language, particularly in the era characterized by global integration. It serves as a vital means of communication, connecting cultural and geographical divides and facilitating interactions among individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Furthermore, English plays a pivotal role in facilitating economic exchanges and international trade, letting individuals participate in global markets effectively. Additionally, it serves as a valuable means for accessing knowledge from various sources from around the world. Hence, it is crucial for individuals to equip themselves with English proficiency as a tool to effectively meet the demands of life and work. In Vietnam, English has become a compulsory subject for educational programs, highlighting its pivotal role in individual qualification.
English includes four key skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, in which, writing skill is perceived by teachers and students as a significant challenge to master. In the context of writing instruction, feedback has long been recognized as a powerful tool for promoting and consolidating writing (Luft, 2014) as it offers students additional knowledge, skills, and motivation necessary for refining and enhancing their writing abilities. To provide students with effective feedback, many solutions have been proposed, one of the outstanding initiatives is integrating technology into the classroom to provide feedback through an automated writing evaluation (AWE) program. In which, Grammarly has been one of the most popular tools currently used by English-majored learners to examine grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, and word choices, thereby assisting the writing process.
To gain a deeper and detailed view of the current situation of using Grammarly as an AWE tool by students in The Faculty of Foreign Languages at Banking Academy, a research topic "An investigation into the acceptance of using Grammarly as an Automated Writing Evaluation Tool: A case study in English- majored students at Banking Academy" has been formed.2 Objective of the thesis The study aims to assess students' acceptance level regarding the use of Grammarly as an AWE assistant and to draw implications from the findings. To fulfil this objective, ATC students at the Banking Academy were asked about their experiences with Grammarly. The study targets to uncover insights into using Grammarly and to enhance the integration of AWE technology in writing instruction.3 Research question This study aims to address the following questions: 1. What factors contribute to the acceptance of ATC students to use Grammarly as an AWE tool? 2.
How do these factors determine the actual use of Grammarly among ATC students? 1.4 Significance of the study The findings of this study aim to benefit both students and teachers in integrating technology into writing assessment. Firstly, it identifies the factors influencing the decision to use Grammarly as an AWE tool and uncovers students' preferences for this application. Teachers can utilize these findings to tailor writing evaluations, enhancing learning enjoyment and improving writing quality. Additionally, the study also offers recommendations to address any limitations students might encounter when using Grammarly for writing evaluation.5 Scope and limitation of the thesis The study surveyed English-majored students at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Banking Academy to gather their opinions on using Grammarly as an AWE tool.
Information was collected through an online questionnaire to understand user's perceptions. However, this research article has some limitations. Firstly, the results may be less convincing due to the limited number of study participants (131 Banking Academy students). Secondly, with a study duration of only 2 months, long-term effects might not be observed carefully.
Additionally, data collection was conducted through online questionnaire distribution, limiting the depth of research results.6 Chapter summary English is gradually taking on an important role in today's world, requiring individuals to equip themselves with English proficiency as a means to meet the requirements of life and the working environment. Therefore, the research paper was established to examine the acceptance level of using Grammarly to assist the writing process among ATC students at Banking Academy. Although the research still has some limitations, the findings of this study are hoped to provide a comprehensive insight into the current situation of using Grammarly among ATC students. Then, it can benefit both teachers and students and suggest future research on the topics of integrating technology into teaching in general.1 Writing Nunan (2003) claims that writing is an activity of searching the ideas and analyzing how to express and arrange words into a sentence and paragraph that is clear to be understood.
Similar to Knoch and Storch (2016), writing is a skill that gives writers a written message to convey or express their ideas and thoughts in meaningful language and mental communication. According to this statement, this means writing is a person's capacity to communicate their ideas in written form. In addition, Toba, Noor, and Sanu (2019) stated that writing is one of the crucial English language abilities that EFL students should be taught for written communication and certain academic aims, such as essays, letters, articles, journals, and so on. This is also true for Vietnamese EFL students, second language learners, however, may find it difficult to master some skills, therefore they should practice and improve important writing techniques.2 Feedback in writing 2.