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Grammarly is a popular writing tool on college campuses due to its efficient ability to help perfect articles. But it is also a double-edged sword that may hurt building writing skills.
In college classrooms, Grammarly has been a widely used grammar corrector for various types of writing assignments. It serves students from over 3,000 educational institutions all over the world, according to Grammarly.
It is more powerful than a document’s built-in spell-check which doesn’t include Grammarly’s functions I often use, such as tone detection and paraphrase suggestions.
Grammarly runs on a wide range of software and websites through floating windows and browser extensions. In my experience using Grammarly Premium, it can set writing goals in terms of domain, intent, audience and formality and a user can receive tailored writing suggestions.
While the program can function on various sites, it provides the most comprehensive feedback in word processors. As I launch it in Microsoft Word and Google Docs, it expands into a split window that demonstrates “alerts” in the document — suggestions on revision assessed on correctness, clarity, engagement and delivery.
It also serves as a convenient dictionary. With my Grammarly extension on, double-clicking on any English words captured on a website leads me to the vocabulary definition. The capture window states that it retrieves definitions from open-source databases, including Wiktionary and Wikipedia.
As an English-as-a-second-language learner, Grammarly has been a great instrument in advancing my writing proficiency. The spontaneous feedback on word choice, fluency, grammar and punctuation saves me a lot of time compared to seeking in-person advice.
It is a revolutionary tool for teaching non-native speakers. English department students in Indonesia hold predominantly positive perceptions of Grammarly, according to research in the Journal of English Teaching.
Grammarly offers suggestions in different writing tones and helps me present more persuasive original arguments with improved readability. I learn through the edits and improve my writing through the process.
However, Grammarly certainly cannot replace human editors. One major reason is its limitation on essay format.
While it provides citation and writing suggestions for three major academic essay styles — APA, MLA and Chicago — I realize it doesn’t comply with other formats such as AP style for news writing and Bluebook for legal materials.
Furthermore, Grammarly retrieves glossary definitions from databases that everyone can edit.
Wikipedia relies on user-contributed information and is thus unreliable for research purposes, according to the Harvard College Writing Program. Since Grammarly sources definitions from there, students need to be conscious of the potential inaccuracy.
One alarming thing I noticed since using this tool is that I have become reliant on its spontaneous corrections. I am less patient in proofreading, putting less effort into word choice as I am used to Grammarly taking over the work.
With this handy program installed, I have less motivation to enhance my vocabulary and grammar. After using it for two years, my spelling precision has become worse in hand-written assignments.
Another concern for writing with Grammarly is the possibility of receiving a zero on the paper. Marley Stevens, a junior student at the University of North Georgia, was placed on academic probation after using Grammarly, reported by Fox5 Atlanta.
UNG uses Turnitin to detect artificial intelligence, which flagged Stevens’ assignment for AI use, according to Fox5 Atlanta. Yet, Stevens claimed that she merely used the extension to proofread her paper instead of creating content through Grammarly’s generative AI function.
Pepperdine also uses Turnitin to deter plagiarism and AI-generated text, according to the University website. While Grammarly is a useful tool for writing assistance, college students should be aware of the possibility of facing consequences like Stevens’.
To avoid similar incidents, students can instead seek help from the Writing Center where writing consultants assist with revision and edits.
It is also important to train one’s writing accuracy without external aid. To reduce the chance of overreliance, I began turning off the immediate feedback from Grammarly when composing essays and resuming it in the final rounds of proofreading.
As technology advances, numerous tools emerge to boost writing accuracy and productivity. While adapting to those inventions, writers must critically weigh their influence and not let them hinder academic progress.
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Contact Laury Li via email: yuting.li2@pepperdine.edu or by Instagram: @laury__li
