AI Literacy: Grammarly Tips
Grammarly can be a great tool for learning and editing — if you know how to use it effectively. This program, like many others, now uses AI to assess not only grammar and spelling but also word choice and style. Unfortunately, these newer features are not perfect; they often make suggestions that completely change the meaning of the text and/or the tone of your voice. The following tips explain when and how to use Grammarly to your benefit without losing your original intentions.
DOs
– Use Grammarly to proofread a draft before meeting with a tutor, then bring questions about its suggestions, etc.
– Use Grammarly to proofread a fully revised final draft before submitting it to the instructor or for publishing.
– Use Grammarly to notice patterns of errors and create study/practice sheets.
– Read the sentence aloud with the suggested change before accepting it. (Does
it make sense? Does it sound right to you?)
– Look up unfamiliar words before choosing them to replace your own. (Is that what you mean? Would you use this word again?)
DON’Ts
– DON’T let Grammarly change your voice! Make your own edits when the suggestion doesn’t sound like you—or leave it as is.
– DON’T accept changes to quoted text, which must appear as it was originally written.
– DON’T rely on Grammarly for feedback beyond sentence-level changes; while the Pro version, Grammarly Go, offers chat-style support in the writing process, neither version can provide reader experience perspective on the piece as a whole (logical organization, strength of supporting evidence, etc.).
Other Tips
– Turn Grammarly off while you’re brainstorming and even writing a first draft so you can get your ideas out without worrying about spelling and grammar mistakes.
– Customize your settings (open “All Settings”) to see and control things you may not know Grammarly does and may not want to do in your writing, like sounding “more confident” or avoiding personal pronouns.