CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the researcher explain the information and theories related to the variables and

topics in this research. Information and theory are taken basedon previous research. Some of the

information and theories that presented include the definition of writing, the process of writing,

the definition of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE), as well as previous research on the topic

being researched.

2.1 Definition of Writing

Writing ability is one of the four macro-skills in learning English (Mante-Estacio, Nino

Valdez, & Pulido, 2018). Writing ability is an essential skill that students must master. According

to Aryuntini, Astuti, & Yuliana (2018), writing is an activity to express ideas and thoughts

through a series of words to become sentences and paragraphs. Based on this explanation, it can

be interpreted that writing is a process to make thoughts or insights that were previously abstract

into something concrete with writing. It also provides an opportunity to be able to spread and

develop knowledge more efficiently. Raimes (1983) revealed several reasons why mastering

writing skills is very important and can also help students learn. The first is that writing can

strengthen students' understanding of grammatical structures, idioms, and also the vocabulary

that has been taught by the teacher. Second, when writing, students get the opportunity to explore

the language, to develop what they have learned before. Third, when students write, they have an

attachment to the new language, they will try to express the ideas in their minds as well as

possible, and the constant use of the eyes, hands, and brain is a unique way of strengthening

learning.
 Harmer (2010) states that there are two purposes of writing that people should know,

namely writing-for-writing and also writing-for-learning. The two objectives must be

distinguished because they will affect the writing process to be carried out. It will also affect a

person's focus and writing orientation. Writing-for-writing is used to develop people's writing

skills as a "writer", so when writing, the main focus is only on how somebody can write well

with various types of writing. In the writing-for-writing model, somebody is not required to

focus on the language used in writing, but only focuses on the overall writing that is made. In

contrast to the writing-for-writing model, the writing-for-learning model requires a person to

focus on the language used in writing. As the name implies, writing-for-learning is used to train

or strengthen students' language skills. Writing is used as a way to strengthen understanding

because writing is

used as an aide-memoire or practice tool to help students practice and work with language they

have been studying.

2.2 Process of Writing

The process of writing has several stages; there are many theories that explain the stages

in writing. The first is the theory of the writing process proposed by Jeremy Harmer. Harmer

mentioned that the writing process consists of planning, drafting, reviewing, and editing

(Harmer, 2010). According to Harmer, the first stage in writing is planning. Planning can be said

as the stage where someone prepares what he will write. It can be in the form of what topic will

be written and the purpose of the writing later for what, who is the target reader of the article.

Planning is an adequately important stage because it will determine the direction of the article so

that when the writing process has started, a person will not lose his direction according to the

plan he
has previously determined. In the second stage, Harmer stated there was a drafting stage. The

drafting stage is the stage where the predetermined plan is realized in the form of freewriting

first.

At this stage, a person has not perfected his writing, but he tries to write down his ideas

or thoughts first. Then in the third stage, Harmer mentions the reviewing stage. At this stage, a

person re-reads the writing that he has made, then he will find some shortcomings from his

writing. This stage is a crucial stage to ensure that the writing that has been made is in

accordance with the plan that has been determined at the planning stage. Weaknesses found in

the reviewing stage will be followed up at the next stage, namely the editing stage. The editing

stage is the last stage in the writing process before the producing stage. At this stage, someone

corrects some of the shortcomings that have been found in the reviewing stage. After this stage is

completed, it can be said that the writing has been perfect in accordance with the plan that was

set at the planning stage at the beginning. Harmer stated that several stages in the writing process

above are not linear processes, but the process can run randomly according to a writer's needs

(Harmer, 2010).

Almost the same as the theory of the writing process proposed by Harmer, Cox (2002)

suggests that there are five stages in the writing process,namely, prewriting, drafting, revising,

editing, and publishing. In the theory proposed by Cox, the planning stage in Harmer's theory is

changed to prewriting. He stated that one part of the prewriting stage is brainstorming. Cox

(2002) also states that there are three techniques in brainstorming, namely, make a list, cluster,

and quick write.Based on the two theories in the writing process above, it can be concluded that,

in general, the writing process consists of three main processes, namely pre-writing, writing, and

also post-writing. Pre-writing is the stage where someone prepares and plans the writing. At this
stage, someone has also determined the topic, as well as the target readership of the writing.

Then at the writing stage, someone starts to write down the ideas that are in mind to the written

media, then at this stage, also someone corrects the writing he has made until the writing has

been done according to the plan he has determined at the pre-writing stage. Then at the last stage,

namely post-writing, someone prints or publishes the results of his writing so that others can read

it.

2.3 Definition of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE)

Along with the development of technology, it also has a positive impact on the world of

education. Learning activities are currently made easier by the existence of various kinds of

software, one of which is Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE). Automated Writing Evaluation

AWE) is software that can give automatic feedback to the students' writings (Li et al., 2015), the

feedback is given in terms of grammar, writing structure, text readability, and also plagiarism of

writing. Hockly (2019) explains how this software works by comparing a written text to an

extensive database of the writing of the same genre, written in answer to a specific prompt or

rubric. From this explanation, it can be seen that the AWE software has an extensive database

containing

writings, where the data is used for comparison with the texts being examined. The main

function of the Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) is to provide feedback on writing to its

users. The old way of checking writing is to rely on feedback from the teacher or feedback

obtained from peer work with friends. There are several weaknesses in the feedback given by

teachers and friends in pair work or groups.

The problem that is often faced is regarding the relatively long examination time because

human evaluators need to read the writing from beginning to end until finally finding errors in
the writing, but if you use Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) then the examination process

will run instantly because the AWE software already has a database to compare

with the text being checked. Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) also has weaknesses that

cannot be avoided. Systems run by computers will not be able to match the performance of

humans. An article has feelings expressed by the author towards the reader. It still cannot be

checked by the Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) software, and human evaluators are

considered more

capable of correcting this. From this statement, it can be concluded that the use of Automated

Writing Evaluation (AWE) software must still be accompanied by feedback provided by the

teacher.

2.4 Student Writing Achievement

According to Guskey (2012), achievement can be interpreted as "the accomplishment of

something" in simple terms. In the context of education, "something" can be interpreted as

articulated learning goals. From this explanation, it can be concluded that achievement has a

close relationship with learning goals in the context of education. The teacher sets learning goals

in the learning design as an indicator of the success of a teaching process. Broadly speaking,

learning goals are divided into three types, namely cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. In

short, the cognitive goal is a measure that focuses on intellectual matters. Cognitive goals are

also the basis for designing a school's academic curriculum (Guskey, 2012). In contrast, affective

goals are learning targets related to attitudes. Guskey (2012) argues that affective goals should be

taught more intensively in elementary grades, this is because elementary school age is the time

when character and nature are formed in humans. The last is psychomotor goals, namely learning

targets related to student skills. In this study, the researcher used student writing achievement as
one of the variables used. In other words, the researcher specified student achievement only in

the realm of writing skills.

2.5 Previous study

In the following, the researcher explains several previous studies related to the

Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) for learning writing skills. First, research was conducted

by Fahmi & Cahyono (2021) regarding the perception of EFL students on the use of Grammarly

and teacher feedback in learning writing. The study also examines whether there is a correlation

between students' level of English proficiency and their perceptions of Grammarly and teacher

feedback. The study involved 26 students of law who were taking an English for Specific

Purpose (ESP) writing course. The data in this study were taken using a questionnaire and the

students' TOEFL test results. The results of this study indicate that 93% of students think that

Grammarly is an easy application to use. 78% of students think that the feedback given by

Grammarly is easy to understand, and all students (100%) think that the feedback given by the

teacher is easy to understand. From these results, it can be concluded that the ease of use and the

easy-to-understand and straightforward user interface of the Grammarly application correlates

with students' perceptions of using Grammarly. Another thing that can be seen is that the use of

Grammarly and teacher feedback positively impacts students in learning writing.

Second, research conducted by Ghufron (2019) aims to find out about students'

perceptions of the implementation of Grammarly and teacher corrective feedback as well as to

find out the weaknesses and strengths of Grammarly and teacher corrective feedback in learning

writing. The study involved two teachers and 120 students from the English Education

Department of IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro, East Java. The study used a case study using a closed-

ended questionnaire and interviews in a closed-ended and open- ended model as a technique for
collecting data. Data obtained from a close- ended questionnaire involving two teachers and 120

students indicate that 97% agree that the use of Grammarly and teacher corrective feedback can

improve writing skills either directly or indirectly. Meanwhile, data obtained from open- ended

interviews showed that students had positive perceptions regarding the use of Grammarly and

teacher corrective feedback. Based on data obtained from close-ended interviews, it shows that

Grammarly is more effective in correcting writing in terms of diction, grammar, spelling and

punctuation. Grammarly is considered less effective in correcting writing in terms of content and

organizing, whereas it is more effective if it is used for teacher corrective feedback. From this

research, it can be seen that the research results obtained are not much different from the results

of the first study described by the researcher above.

This second study disclosed that the application of automated writing evaluation (AWE)

was more effective for correcting writing in terms of language. At the same time, teacher

corrective feedback was more effective for correcting writing in terms of content and writing

arrangement.

Third, research was conducted by Ariyanto, Mukminatien, & Tresnadewi (2019). The research

aims to determine the perceptions of teachers and students as well as the advantages and

disadvantages of implementing the ProWritingAid application and teacher feedback in the

classroom. This study focuses on the combination of the ProWritingAid application and teacher

feedback so that this study does not identify it separately. The research involved 33 students

majoring in informatics engineering who were taking an English for specific purpose writing

course. This study uses a survey research model, where questionnaires are given to students and

interviews are conducted with teachers as a technique for collecting data. The results of the study

revealed that teachers are interested in using these strategies for further learning; this is because
teachers feel the benefits are suitable for both teachers and students. Teachers feel that these

strategies are able to improve students' writing skills; these strategies help teachers save work

time. As with other studies that have been described by the researcher above, the ProWritingAid

application is also considered more effective for correcting writing in terms of grammar, while

teacher feedback is considered more effective for correcting writing in terms of content.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHOD

This chapter contains an explanation of the research methods used in this study. This

chapter contains research design, the subject of the study, research instruments, data collection,

validity and reliability testing, and data analysis.

3.1 Research Design

This study uses quantitative research methods. According to Emzir

(2008), quantitative research is a research approach that primarily uses a postpositivist approach

in developing science and uses experiments and surveys that require statistical data as a research

strategy. Specifically, this study uses experimental research. According to Gay, Mills, & Airasian

(2012), Experimental research is the only research that can test the hypothesis correctly

to prove a causal relationship (cause-effect). In experimental research, the researcher manipulates

at least one independent variable by controlling for other relevant variables and observes the

effect or influence on one or more dependent variables. In this study, the researcher used a 2 x 2

factorial design. According to Ary, Jacobs, Razavieh, & Ary (2010), a factorial design is one in
which the researcher manipulates two or more variables simultaneously in order to study the

independent effect of each variable on the dependent variable, as well as the effects caused by

interactions among the several variables. The purpose of a factorial design is to determine

whether the effects of an independent variable are generalizable across all levels or whether the

effects are specific to particular levels (Gay et al., 2012). There are various types of factorial

design; these types are based on the number of groups or variables used in factorial design

research. In this study, the researcher uses the simplest type of factorial design, which is 2 x 2.

The meaning of type 2 x 2 is that this method uses two variables which are both independent

variables. Independent variables in factorial design research are also called factors. In this study,

four groups were needed as research samples. The following table illustrates the research model

that used by researcher.

There are two kinds of variables in this study, namely independent variable and dependent

variable. The first is the Grammarly, ProWritingAid and also student writing level as the

independent variable and the writing skills as the dependent variable.

Based on the table above, it shows that the research sample in this study consisted of four

groups. The four groups are basically two groups that are distinguished from their level, from the

two groups then divided into two groups again to be given treatment in each group. The first

group was a group that consisted of high English proficiency students, they got treatment in the

form of using the Grammarly application. The second group was a group that consisted of low

English proficiency students, they got treatment in the form of using the Grammarly application.

The third group was a group that consisted of high English proficiency students, they get

treatment in the form of using the ProWritingAid application. Moreover, the fourth group was a

group that consisted of low English proficiency students, they get treatment in the form of using
the ProWritingAid application. This study focuses on looking at the effectiveness of Grammarly

and ProWritingAid applications in learning writing skills