Secondary School Students' English Writing Aided by Spelling and Grammar Checkers

This paper presents phase one of the study. It is aimed at investigating how and why secondary school students use computer tools, such as spelling and grammar checkers, to aid them in their English writing. The community in this context is a multicultural secondary school where students come from diverse socio-economic background and family structures. The study was prompted through close observation over many years, as a classroom teacher, on how some students use computers to support their writing while others make just as much use of computers but struggle to read and write in English. The study was aimed at investigating how computer influences the literacy development of school age students. The literature review was carried out to determine the extent of computer use and its adequacy on the development of language literacy skills. There has been considerable disagreement on issues concerning the scale and pace of change associated with increased use of computers in the education and domestic environments. The degree to which education can build on the use of computers will depend on how well we understand what students do when they work with computers. The research in this area began with testing and surveying sixty five Year 8 students. The test results obtained are compared with students‟ responses to the survey. The questionnaire was self-developed and contained open ended questions for the students to respond reflectively and evaluate their uses of computer tools. The main aim of the research was to understand how and why the students use computers in the ways that they do and how their patterns of use relate to their English literacy.