Abstract
Mastering sentence structure is essential for English majors, yet many students still struggle to develop their syntactic competence. To investigate the effect of utilizing the English Grammar: Learn & Test mobile application on students’ syntactic competence under the framework of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL), this study used a quasi-experimental design. The control group received traditional instruction, while the experimental group used the app in a nine-week intervention. The participants were 73 first-year BAEL students at a state university in Cebu, Philippines. The instruments included adapted pretest and posttest measures of syntactic forms (SF) and grammatical functions (GF), which served as the two parameters of syntactic competence, and a Likert scale survey administered to the experimental group. The data on syntactic competence, particularly SF and GF, were treated using descriptive statistics. To determine the significant differences between the groups, an independent t-test was used. The findings showed that the experimental group attained higher posttest scores in SF (70.83) and GF (56.94) than the control group (67.22 and 49.44). While both groups showed noticeable improvements, the difference in their mean gains was not statistically significant. Despite this, students responded very positively to the application, rating its perceived effectiveness, usability, and satisfaction at 4.34, 4.29, and 4.29, respectively, which indicates that the grammar app contributed to their learning. Thus, this study concludes that the grammar app is a useful supplementary tool that supports learning. Although the grammar app is not more effective than traditional teaching for improving syntactic competence, it serves as a valuable supplementary tool that enhances learning and fosters positive learning experiences. Therefore, it is recommended to integrate such technology into language instruction, as it may help improve students' syntactic competence through regular practice and interaction with the app.
Keywords: Syntactic Competence, Grammar Application, Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL), Quasi-Experimental, BAEL Students
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