Helpful Functions of the Program

 “a learning tool and guidance tool, because it provides us much information,”

 “a learning tool and a guidance tool, because it not only provides immediate feedback, it also shows writing weaknesses such as grammar errors and spelling errors,”

 “a tool, providing more opportunities to write more and enhance writing skills,”

 “a learning tool, highlighting weaknesses which can improve writing abilities.”

One student perceptively noted that MY Access functioned as “a learning tool, but it would benefit from being guided by a teacher.”

Another student reported she felt MY Access served merely as “a tutor which tests writing and didn’t have much to do with actual learning.” For this student, MY Access was functioning more as an automated essay scoring program than as an automated writing evaluation instrument.

So students generally regarded MY Access as a useful tool rather than a tutor. If a teacher had used the program as part of the grading criteria of a writing class, the comments may have favored a response such as the program functioning as “a teaching assistant” or

“tutorial type feedback.” But the program thus seems to have been regarded as an acceptable standalone tool for autonomous learning of writing skills by students working by themselves.

4.3.2.2 Helpful Functions of the Program

In this section are summarized responses to the three questions:

 Do you think this writing software is helpful to you?

 What are the things that you believe the system actually helps you with?

 Among the error feedback categories provided by the system, which one that you believe helps you most: (a) focus and meaning, (b) content and

development, (c) organization, (d) language use and style, and (e) mechanics?”

All students listed multiple reasons why the program was helpful to them personally.

Below are listed their responses.

S1 “In writing article organization and structure, I improved a lot.”

S2 “Fair scoring. Fair accuracy.”

“Shows the errors in the essay so this makes it easier for me to avoid mistakes in the next essay.”

“I am aware of my weak points, because of the high/low scoring feedback.”

“Because there were examples after feedback, I could notice my weaknesses.”

“If I got a low score in content, this might mean I wrote off the topic so I need to focus clearly on the content.”

S3 “It’s helpful, after I used this software, I found there are many hints on how to write a good essay. I can use more difficult words than I used to.”

“There are samples for writing a good essay in My Access, which saves a lot of time for students thinking abut how to write an essay. The immediate feedback helps me realize my weaknesses.”

“The development and content helped me a lot. After writing an essay, I felt, after the error analysis feedback, the essay became better. I definitely improved my writing a lot after I used MY Access.”

S4 “It’s helpful. I was aware of my weaknesses and strengths after using My Access.”

“It highlighted my weaknesses, and improved my writing skills.”

“Content and development improved in my writing proficiency.”

S5 “Understanding my writing problems helped me to develop writing skills, and

correct my errors from the feedback.”

“Understanding grammar errors, I can correct them immediately.”

“Enhanced my motivation for writing.”

“No time limitation for writing, can write at any time.”

“There are many phrases and grammar points so it gives practice in English writing skills.”

S6 “It makes me think and write, which is very good. It can also prepare me for future international tests, so it’s a very effective testing tool.”

“It provides a platform on which we practice writing, the process helps to organize our thoughts in a logical way. It is great fun and can be very helpful in training our

organizational and analytical abilities.”

“Language use and style. I sometimes make spelling mistakes so this system helps correct my spelling errors quickly and effectively. This is very impressive and helpful.”

S7 “It’s helpful, I can learn from the immediate error feedback, I am aware of my weakness in writing.”

“It improves my writing proficiency, also I learned different writing skills and styles.

“I improved in content and development. It enhances my writing abilities.

S8 “I always read the sample/example, then I know how to choose the right content, I also can use the functions, analyzing the structure of article, therefore, I can prepare well because the hints are helpful.”

“Helpful in grammar, good for spelling check, practicing organization, knowing my

weaknesses from feedback, practicing whenever you like.”

“Content and development are helpful in writing. Because sometimes I might write off the topic. The language use and style are important too, because if we focus too much on oral and speaking skills, too much oral/speaking, it might affect our skills for formal essay writing.”

Students were asked to identify which specific domains of MY Access were of most help to them, five students said Content and Development, three said Language and Style and one for Organization. Such responses may reflect students’ preferences for being given example essays to follow, which is a feature of the MY Access Content and Development domain. It is interesting that none of the students said the Mechanics domain (errors of

punctuation, spelling, grammar) was the domain most helpful to them, despite the specific and personal nature of mechanical errors identified compared with the very general nature of the feedback given in other domains.