Grammarly Application a Case of Economic and Sociopolitical Hegemonies

With the help of technology and the internet, EFL students can learn foreign language more conveniently than ever before. Meanwhile, increasing attention is being paid to Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). The current study aimed at scrutinizing the implementation of Grammarly software in CALL and its restrictions for the Iranian users regarding economic and sociopolitical hegemonies. This study was based on the qualitative research to explore the various facets of economic and sociopolitical hegemonies in the scope of Grammarly application. 10 TEFL students of Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University and EFL teachers of an institution with the experience of applying Grammarly software, attended individual semi-structures interviews and asking questions within a predetermined thematic framework. However, the questions were not set in order or in phrasing and there were options to ask additional questions with more detail and richness due to their more open-ended nature. Based on the finding of the present study, in the field of sociopolitical hegemony, main constrains that imposed on Iranian operators of Grammarly encompasses filtering and limited access to internet connections. Enforcement of filtering put the users of the Grammarly in restricted access to firstly; varying version of Grammarly online browser and desktop application and secondly to reliable websites for comparing and evaluating Grammarly s functionality with other websites. In the scope of economic hegemony, financial complications made the Iranian clients of Grammarly to be excluded from technological facilities of Grammarly software application. It is difficult and occasionally impossible to subscribe various kinds of software applications in computer mediated language learning and teaching context. Despite the percentage of monthly and annual discounts that the Grammarly site has considered for users, users still cannot afford such amounts and sometimes they are forced to buy such software as a group.