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ELT FORUM 12(2) (2023) 

 

Journal of English Language Teaching 

 
http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/elt 

 
 

Google Docs in English for Business Purposes courses: The exploration of students’ 

acceptance 

 
Susilawati1, Yustika Nur Fajriah2, Sri Yunita3 

 
1Universitas Bina Sarana Informatika, Jakarta, Indonesia  
2Institut Pendidikan Indonesia, Garut, Indonesia 
3STIE Yasa Anggana, Garut, Indonesia

 

Article Info 
________________  
Article History: 

Received on 22 

March 2023  
Approved on 23 July 

2023 

Published on 31 July 

2023 

________________  
Keywords: EBP; ESP; 

Google Docs; 

technology acceptance 

model; writing  
____________________ 

 

 

 

 

Abstract 
  
Investigating students' acceptance of technology use in the classroom is crucial for 
serving as the foundation for reflection on learning, including in classes of EBP 

(English for Business Purposes) as a branch of ESP (English for Specific Purposes). 
The recent study aims at exploring EBP students’ acceptance of the use of Google 

Docs as a learning platform in their class using the framework of TAM (Technology 
Acceptance Model). A qualitative case study was adopted by administering an open-

ended questionnaire and a structured-group interview. The participants involved were 

one class of EBP students consisting of 18 persons at one private university in Depok, 
West Java, Indonesia. The findings revealed that most of the students positively 

accept the use of Google Docs in their EBP writing class. Particularly, based on PU 
(Perceived Usefulness), the students viewed that Google Docs gives them assistance 

to write and improve their writing skills. In the view of PEU (Perceived Ease of Use), 
Google Docs has been seen as a user-friendly platform.  The students also evinced a 

fine attitude in terms of ATT (Attitude Towards Technology). In the aspect of BI 

(Behavioral Intention), most students highlighted their preference for the use of 
Google Docs in the future, both for academic and professional purposes. 

Recommendations for ESP instructional practices with the utilization of Google Docs 
and potential research in the future are forwarded. 

  

Correspondence Address: p-ISSN 2252-6706 | e-ISSN 2721-4532 
Universitas Bina Sarana Informatika 
Jakarta, Indonesia  

susilawati.sxw@bsi.ac.id  

http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1333515478&1&&
http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1576658845&1&&


Susilawati, Yustika Nur Fajriah, Sri Yunita| ELT Forum 12(2) (2023) 

99 

 

 
INTRODUCTION 

In the contemporary digital environment, ESP students must be provided with enough worthwhile 

learning opportunities through the use of technology in their classrooms. A meaningful learning 

experience should concurrently address content knowledge, linguistic proficiency, and technical 

competency. Borrowing the idea of Rao (2019), professional content should be learned as it is an 

essential part of business English needs. Language abilities such as vocabulary (Barjesteh et al., 2022) 

or precisely, technical vocabulary should also be mastered.  Simultaneously, technological 

competence should be enhanced with respect to technology use, since technology application in 

foreign language learning has been proven to have significant effects on students’ language ability (Al-

Wasy, 2020), such as technical term enrichment (Gómez-Ortiz et al., 2023). When students are 

equipped with a combination of these competencies, it will be easy for them to meet both academic 

demands and professional requirements at the workplace and compete globally.  

Among educational technologies utilized in education, Google Docs offered by Google 

Workspace for Education is recognized as one of the supportive and beneficial technology tools for 

writing instruction, either in an academic setting or a career for professionals (Faulkner, 2019). The 

facility provided by Google Docs is proven to facilitate students with many beneficial aspects of 

language learning such as collaborative learning, classroom interaction, and students’ motivation to 

learn (Aldossary, 2022). Referring to the study conducted by Nasri et al. (2022)T, the platform has 

also positively influenced students’ learning experience, particularly through the facilitation of 

feedback from their teacher in Google Docs.  This tool also accommodates students’ learning 

engagement and expands their learning strategies (Morse, 2021). In terms of students’ capacity for 

interaction and technological proficiency, Google Docs has also been shown to benefit underachievers 

(Nguyen, 2023). To that end, Google Docs might receive good acceptance both from students and 

teachers.  

The exploration of students’ acceptance of the technology they use in their classrooms, as a part 

of learning reflection, might be done by adopting particular frameworks. One of them is Technology 

Acceptance Model (TAM), which is claimed to be one of the most common models to predict 

technology acceptance in social science (Teo et al., 2018). TAM was introduced by Davis (1986) and 

has been widely adopted to view users’ perceptions of technology acceptance including in an 

educational setting, by both teachers (Schereekr et al., 2019) and students (Peng et al., 2023). 

Furthermore, Davis (1986) introduces TAM aspects to predict people’s perception of the technology 

they use: perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU), attitude towards technology (ATT), 

and behavioural intention (BI). Perceived ease of use is the state in which a user reckons that using 

the technology would be simple, whereas perceived usefulness is viewed as the extent to which the 

technology promotes performance (Lederer et al., 2000). ATT is seen as the degree of evaluative effect 

that an individual associates with using the target system in his or her job (Davis, 1986). While BI, to 

Brezavšček et al. (2017) refers to the extent to which a person has made conscious plans to engage in 

or refrain from engaging in a particular future activity. They primarily believe that users will be more 

motivated to adopt technology if they believe it will benefit them and be simple to use. In this case 

study, these 4 aspects will be used to predict the acceptance of Google Docs using a qualitative 

approach.  

Google Docs itself has been widely known to receive well-established acceptance from students. 

In the context of EFL, students in reading classes shared their positive perceptions of using Google 

Docs, as reported by Rukmi et al. (2021). The study conducted by  Sudrajat & Purnawarman (2019) 

has shown that students in a translation class also show positive acceptance of Google Docs use. 

Students also agree that Google Docs assists them with supporting features for collaborative writing 

(Wahyuningsih, 2021). A study conducted by Aldossary (2022) underlined that Google Docs is 

perceived by students as an interesting learning platform and a tool to foster their writing skills. Google 

Docs is also accepted as a learning technology that accommodates group tasks, discussion abilities, 

communication, and interaction with lecturers (Hidayat, 2020). Additionally, users’ positive opinions 

on the use of Google Docs are consistently proven by their writing performance (Alsubaie & 

Ashuraidah, 2017).  

The research of Rukmi et al. (2021) focused on measuring the students’ acceptance based on the 

percentage for each element of TAM in their EFL course, therefore, they urged administering 

qualitative research to have more revelations about students’ acceptance. Similarly, research by 

Aldossary (2022) suggested the administration of interviews to gain deeper information about Google 



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Docs’ use.  In a translation class, Sudrajat & Purnawarman (2019) investigated students' perceptions 

of using Google Docs based on its simplicity, user experience, and attitude toward using Google Docs. 

They also probed further into whether Google Docs use is accepted in traditional classrooms. With a 

focus on interaction and Google Docs' use in writing (Hidayat, 2020; Wahyuningsih, 2021), as well as 

its features, performance when using Google Docs, easy communication, and accessibility 

(Wahyuningsih, 2021), the two scholars both qualitatively portrayed students' perceptions in EFL 

classes. However, they applied a slightly different model from TAM. While Alsubaie & Ashuraidah 

(2017) claimed positive acceptance of Google Docs by EFL students based solely on female 

participants' perspectives.  

Based on the above highlights, there are some urgent issues to address. First, since all the above 

studies were conducted in an EFL setting, it is worth investigating the technology’s acceptance in a 

more specific setting, like English for Business as part of ESP classes. Second, not all research applies 

specific frameworks when investigating students’ acceptance; therefore, applying TAM to explore 

students’ acceptance on Google Docs is promising to explore much wider aspects of technology 

acceptance. Third, a distinct research approach that is qualitative and uses a range of instruments, 

including interviews, different subjects (male and female students), and a traditional course setting 

necessitates attention. 

On this basis, the recent study concentrates on exploring students' approval of the use of Google 

Docs in the context of an EBP traditional writing class by using the TAM framework, which is 

conducted using a qualitative approach. This study is expected to provide extensive and in-depth 

references regarding the students' acceptance. It is envisaged that EBP or ESP students will be more 

familiar with the use of technology to aid their learning. Other associated parties, such as English 

teachers or lecturers, might use this useful information to best prepare their EBP or ESP classrooms 

for the digital age by infusing useful platforms into their classrooms. In a broader sense, schools and 

stakeholders may explore incorporating user-friendly learning platforms such as Google Docs into 

curriculum development as a means of providing their students with a more current and paperless 

platform for learning writing for their technological proficiency.    

 

METHODS  

The recent study adopted a qualitative approach. The method employed was a case study. The design 

was selected in reference to Yin (2018), due to its characteristics to generalize and expand theory in 

non-statistical analyses. It is also chosen to gain a more in-depth understanding and exploration of the 

phenomenon being studied (Crowe et al., 2011). In this study, the researchers intend to explore 

students’ acceptance of using Google Docs with more detailed information on each acceptance aspect.  

The participants involved in the recent study comprised 18 students from a non-English 

department at one private university in Depok, West Java, Indonesia. They were selected as they had 

used Google Docs intensively during their whole semester for the subject of English correspondence 

in the context of EBP.  

There are two instruments used to collect data. The first instrument is a questionnaire. As the 

study employed a qualitative approach, an open-ended questionnaire was utilized as a tool to collect 

information on the students’ views. The open-ended format is chosen to explore more specific and 

deep answers from participants (Albudaiwi, 2017). The questionnaire was constructed using 4 aspects 

of TAM consisting of 8 questions on PU, 5 questions on PEU, 6 questions on ATT, and 3 questions 

on BI. The questionnaire is adopted from Jiang et al. (2021).   

The second technique to collect the data is an interview. The type of interviews chosen was a 

structured interview which was administered in a focus group interview. 3 groups of students (each 

group consisting of 2 students) were interviewed in groups; they were chosen based on their level of 

writing performance. The group interview was adopted due to time efficiency and the researcher’s 

intention to discover more aspects (Dilshad & Ijaz Latif, 2013) of the participant’s perception of the 

use of Google Docs. As this instrument was used to confirm or triangulate the students’ perceptions 

stated in the questionnaire, they were only given a few relevant questions. The interview questions 

focused on their experience, feeling of assistance, features to help them write, and overall views of the 

learning.  

The data were all collected after the students finished their EBP course which was conducted 

offline in the odd semester of the academic year 2022/2023. The open-ended questionnaires were first 

administered to all students using Google Forms. After all students completed the questionnaire, a 

face-to-face group interview was scheduled.  



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The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis steps, which were adapted from Lester 

et al. (2020). Data completeness was initially convinced for both questionnaires and interviews. In the 

next step, data interviews were transcribed using an intelligent verbatim technique  (McMullin, 2021). 

After reading the general sense of the data, data coding was administered, which then led to a 

categorization based on aspects of TAM. The last step was interpreting the data and justifying them in 

light of the current existent literature.  

 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION  

The current study attempts to explore the students’ acceptance of using Google Docs in the context of 

an EBP writing class. The findings and discussion are presented based on each aspect of TAM and 

supported by the interview results. 

 

Perceived Usefulness (PU)  

In the view of PU, there are four key points highlighted: Google Docs’ assistance in improving the 

students’ writing skills, enjoyable learning, effective features, and a general opinion about the use of 

Google Docs. The results of the questionnaire are presented in Table 1.  
 

Table 1. The results of questionnaires in PU 

Statements Responses 

Google Docs’ gives assistance in enhancing writing 

skills of business correspondence  

18 students agreed  

Aspects of writing improved by Google Docs Grammar, spelling, vocabulary, writing/language 

style, letter generic structures  

Google Docs accommodates comfortable learning 
accommodated  

18 students agreed 

The most accommodating features of Google Docs  Suggestion mode, auto translating feature, auto 
saving mode, the feature of giving comments in 

collaborative writing  
Google Docs’ is effective to use when writing business 

letters in English 

17 students agreed, 1 did not 

Most effective features of Google Docs for learning to 
write 

Suggestion mode, auto translating feature, auto 
saving mode, the feature of giving comments in 

collaborative writing 
In general, Google Docs helps students learn to write 

business letters in English. 

18 students agreed 

 
From Table 1, it is clear that the students all agreed that Google Docs helps them improve their 

business correspondence skills in English. They mentioned that grammar, spelling, vocabulary mastery, 

writing styles, and generic structure of their letter are getting better when using Google Docs. Google 

Docs has been facilitating students with auto-correction for grammar, diction, including sentence styles 

as a part of writing. When they write their letter in Google Docs, they have been facilitated with a 

sample of letters for modeling from their lecturer. Therefore, when they write in Google Docs, they 

write their letters by adopting a similar generic structure. From the interview conducted in groups, 

relevant reasons are admitted by the interviewed students. They said:  

 
“Better writing and correct format of business letters.” (St. 1)  

“I got a better understanding of the goo letter structure.” (St. 2) 
“Motivation to write better.” (St. 3) 

“Better understanding of writing letters in English.” (St. 4) 
“Simple, understandable.” (St 5) 

“Correct arrangement of letters in English.” (St 6) 
 

The result corresponds to a study reported by Alwahoub et al. (2022) that content, language use, 

and organization of writing are fostered by the use of Google Docs. Hoang & Hoang (2022) either 

proved that Google Docs has been accepted as a useful platform by students due to its assistance in the 

enhancement of academic writing skills. They reported vocabulary enrichment after the use of Google 

Docs in their writing class. The study conducted by Ebadi & Rahimi (2019) discovered students’ 

positive acceptance of Google Docs. They underlined that writing ability in the aspects of task 



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performance, coherent and cohesive writing, vocabulary, structure, and accuracy have been fostered 

by the use of Google Docs. In this recent study context, the students’ genre awareness (Akoto, 2021) 

is successfully built and comprehended.  

The second point is the agreeable learning provided by Google Docs. From Table 1, it is found 

that all students admitted that they feel comfortable when using the platform to write business letters. 

Suggestion mode for grammatical correction and diction, translation mode, auto saving mode, and 

giving comments when writing collaboratively are listed as the features providing comfort in writing. 

From the interview, the students agreed that suggestion mode is the most accommodating feature in 

Google Docs. All of them mentioned: 

 
“Suggestion mode is the most helpful for me.” (St. 1) 

“For me, the correction mode.” (St. 2) 
“The one that corrects sentences.” (St. 3) 

“Feature to correct the writing.” (St. 4) 

“Suggestion feature.” (St. 5) 
“When I write with a wrong spelling, Google Docs suggests me the correction.” (St. 6) 

 

The learning enjoyment they experience with Google Docs might have directed the students to be 

motivated and enthusiastic in the class. During the interview, they mentioned that:  

 
“Honestly, yes.” (St. 1) 

“Yes, I feel so motivated.” (St. 2) 

“Very motivational.” (St. 3) 
“Very motivational. I become a diligent student in this class.” (St. 4) 

“I feel motivated.” (St. 5) 
“I feel very motivated.” (St. 6) 

 

This second point represents the students’ feel being of excitement to learn using Google Docs. 

The fact supports what has been highlighted by Shahidan, Ali, & Bakar (2022), that the use of Google 

Docs helps educators present an encouraging learning atmosphere, in an effort to equip them with 

technological competence in the digital period (Shahidan, Ali, & Tilwani, 2022). Another study has 

portrayed that students share a variety of opinions on the delight of using Google Docs (Hoang & 

Hoang, 2022).  

Besides its assistance and enjoyment, in the third point, the students also all approve that Google 

Docs is effective learning media for their EBP writing class. They highlighted the features of suggestion 

mode, auto-translation, auto-saving mode, and giving comments when they have collaborative writing 

as the most effective features to help them write. The results are also supported by the interview. When 

being interviewed, the students all said the same thing about the use of Google Docs in their business 

correspondence class,  

 
“It’s very helpful.” (St. 1) 
“Yes, it helps me a lot.” (St. 2) 

“Google Docs helps me so much.” (St. 3)  
“Very helpful.” (St. 4) 

“Yes, very helpful.” (St. 5) 
“I feel assisted.” (St. 6) 
 

This finding corresponds to the study of Ebener (2017), which concluded that  the features of 

giving comments and suggestion mode are helpful for promoting students’ writing. In the context of 

collaborative writing, Google Docs is also well accepted by students for its accommodating features 

for peer work (Hidayat, 2020).  

All in all, at the PU, the students feel that the use of Google Docs generally gives them assistance 

in writing business correspondence. The students’ general views are also in consonance with the study 

conducted by Wahyuningsih (2021), which supports the students' overall perception that Google Docs 

is a useful tool for carrying out writing activities, including materials accessibility and teacher-learner 

interaction during learning (Khalil, 2018).  

 

 
 



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Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) 

Regarding the aspect of PEU, some points to be concerned about consist of Google Docs’ easy use in 

general, its effortless use in writing, and the easy-to-understand instruction in its features. The results 

of the PEU questionnaire are displayed in Table 2.  

 

Table 2. The results of questionnaires in PEU 

Statements Responses 

Google Docs is easy to use  18 students agreed 

Google Docs’ easy use  Similar features with Ms. Word, easy access at 
anywhere and anytime, auto saving mode 

 

Using Google Docs to learn to write English business 
letters is effortless  

17 students agreed, 1 did not 

Effortless use of Google Docs  Agreement: 
Auto correction for spelling or suggestion mode, 

energy saving, similar to Ms. Word, easy to use, 
easy correction, auto saving mode 

Disagreement:  

Not being able to format paragraphs 
It is easy to understand instruction in the Google Docs 

features 

17 students agreed, 1 did not 

The easiest features to use in Google Docs 18 students agreed 

The easiest feature: Suggestion modes 

 

Based on Table 2, all students (18) approved that generally Google Docs is easy to use. Similar 

features to Microsoft Word, flexible access, and auto-saving modes, are the students’ agreement. 

Specifically, when it comes to writing business correspondence, it is evident that the majority of 

students (17) admitted that Google Docs is effortless to use; only 1 student did not agree with that. 

Most of the students (17) listed that that Google Docs helps them with automatic helpful features like 

suggestion modes, especially for spelling, energy saving, similar features to Microsoft Word, easy use, 

easy correction, and auto-saving modes. While one student that showed her disagreement said that it 

is not easy for her to her to build and format paragraphs in Google Docs. This student might have less 

exposure to technology regarding her age and limited resources; therefore, she is categorized into a 

digital immigrant, as concluded by Li et al. (2019). During the interview, they confirmed the 

preferences and reasons. 

 
“Google Docs is very easy to use for me. We can soon identify our mistakes in our writing.” (St. 1) 

“Easy for me. Auto correction mode and auto-saving help me the most.” (St. 2) 
“Easy to use. It helps me write letters in English. It suggests me correstions.” (St.3) 

“Very easy. It is effective and efficient to use. It can be linked to many people.” (St. 4) 
“Easy to use, because of auto-correction, easy to revise letters after getting feedback from the lecturer.” 

(St. 5) 
“Very easy to use. Similar to Ms. Word, but it helps to fix incorrect writing.” (St. 6) 
 

Google Docs’ easy of use has also been a concern in previous studies. Features of Google Docs 

itself are significant predictors in facilitating students’ learning (Moonma, 2021). The study of Khalil 

(2018) has proven that Google Docs' features have been notable for their simplicity. Its flexible access, 

which means that Google Docs is always accessible without distance and time restrictions, is also 

reported by Moonma (2021). As this platform is mostly used in a synchronous mode, immediate edits 

are possible (Mohammed & Al-Jaberi, 2021); therefore, energy saving in the effortless use of Google 

Docs are approved by the students in this study. Moreover, similar features of Google Docs and 

Microsoft Word enable students to cope with Google Docs conveniently, and then they can finish tasks 

effortlessly. The ease with which tasks can be completed and the accessibility of Google Docs' 

capabilities are both viewed favorably (Mohamad et al., 2021).  

In relation to the easy comprehended instruction, the majority of students (17) also agreed that 

the instructions in the features are easy to comprehend. In this case, the interviewed students also 

confirmed that the lecturer’s instruction is also useful so that they comprehend the materials and 

instruction better. They mentioned: 

 



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 “She gives very good explanations, … better comprehension.” (St.1) 

 “The instruction is very easy to understand.” (St. 2) 
 “Simple, not wordy.” (St. 3) 

 “The lecturer explains everything well and clearly. It is very helpful for me.” (St. 4) 

 “Yes, understandable.” (St. 5) 
 “Easy to comprehend.” (St. 6) 

 

This answer corresponds to what was suggested by Kurniawati (2022) that teachers are advised 

to provide clear instruction to students when learning with the assistance of a platform. Although 

Google Docs has provided an auto correction mode for students to revise their writing, the lecturer’s 

presence in delivering instruction cannot be substituted, specifically for directing the students on how 

to write accurately based on business letters’ generic structure, then correcting the cohesiveness and 

coherence of the students’ letters.  Referring to  the study carried out by Li & Mak (2022), with  the 

help of a well-structured online intervention designed by teachers, fostering students’ writing skills will 

take place; even those with low written proficiency will be able to follow along and benefit from the 

learning.  

The 18 students also highlighted that the easiest feature they find in Google Docs is suggestion 

mode. During the interview, the 3 groups all agreed that suggestion mode is their most preferred feature 

in Google Docs. They mentioned: 

 
 “Auto correction mode”. (St. 1) 

 “When I write and it is not correct, Google Docs gives me signs and suggests correction.” (St. 2) 

 “Features for correcting sentences.” (St. 3) 
 “Correction mode.” (St. 4) 

 “Suggestion feature.” (St. 5) 
 “Same answer.” (St. 6) 
 

Pursuant to the research findings, it was reported that the correction mode in Google Docs is 

favorable (Ebener, 2017) since the editing process becomes much simpler and time saving (Colaco & 

Antao, 2023). A study reported that Google Docs is preferred due to its features for immediate text 

revision (Mohammed & Al-Jaberi, 2021), which will actually reduce the amount of time needed for 

writing. On this account, Google Docs is considered an efficient writing tool.  

 

Attitude Towards Technology (ATT) 

In the context of ATT, the students’ answers are mainly grouped into these categories: Google Docs 

as a great option, benefits of writing with Google Docs, and students’ positive perceptions. The results 

are presented in Table 3.  

 

Table 3. The results of questionnaires in ATT 

Statements Responses 

Google is a great option to learn writing English 

business letters  

18 students agreed 

Why is Google Docs’ a great option? Improving vocabulary mastery and grammar, auto 

correction after getting feedback 
Writing with Google Docs is beneficial 18 students agreed 

Benefits of writing with Google Docs  Improving understanding of structure when writing a 

letter, easy for beginners 
Students have positive perception of using 

Google Docs in English letter writing class 

18 students agreed 

Students’ positive perception Helpful in completing tasks, easy to use, effective for 

learning, compatible in many devices, direct feedback 
from the lecturer 

 

Based on the ATT, all students (18) approved that Google Docs is a good choice to use. They 

underlined that it helps them with vocabulary enrichment, grammar construction, and writing revision 

when they get feedback from their lecturer. As mentioned earlier, when being interviewed, the students 

agreed that their writing structure in English is getting better. They also preferred their lecturer’s 

feedback as it challenged them to revise their work. They said: 



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“I get an okay. I love it.” (St. 1) 
“The feedback is like word arrangement. I prefer getting feedback.” (St. 2) 

“I receive a lot of feedback, like revising salutation in opening letters, commas, dates. It makes me 
understand the mistake.” (St.3) 

“The feedback that I receive very frequently is word arrangement. Honestly, I like when I get feedback.” 
(St. 4) 

“Word arrangement, and capitalization. I like it honestly.” (St. 5) 

“Spelling, salutation, and word arrangement. I like getting feedback.” (St. 6) 

 

This finding  is in conformity with the study of Wibowo (2021) that has focused on how feedback 

provided in Google Docs helps students construct their writing. In this study, the synchronous feedback 

provided in Google Docs also helps the students to interact virtually with their lecturer. As underlined 

by Saeed & Al Qunayeer (2022), delivering feedback using a platform could be more practical in terms 

of its interactivity. Withal, to Prasetya & Syarif (2022), feedback represents lecturers’ reactions to their 

students’ writing.  

The 18 students also approved that Google Docs gives tem more benefits. They confirmed that 

they gain better understanding of a good letter structure, and this tool is suitable for use by students at 

beginner levels. The research of Nasri et al. (2022) noticed that Google Docs positively affected 

students’ learning experiences and assisted their learning processes. Specifically, Google Docs also 

provides a unique learning experience (Hidayat, 2020). It has also been researched that this tool is 

advantageous for students in the category of low achievement  (Nguyen, 2023). The interviewed 

students confirmed the answers by saying: 

 
“Learning becomes unique and interesting.” (St. 1) 

“It’s my first time using Google Docs, very beneficial.” (St. 2) 
“It’s unique learning.” (St. 3) 

“My experience when using Google Docs … it is very beneficial. And plus, it’s a great help for my daily 
activities at the workplace.” (St. 4) 

“It’s unique, beneficial and I enjoy it. It’s a new experience for me.” (St. 5) 
“For me, learning with Google Docs is pleasing. It helps me when typing documents.” (St. 6) 

 

Finally, the 18 students showed a positive perception of Google Docs use in their EBP writing 

class. Google Docs’ assistance, ease of use, effectiveness for learning, device compatibility and 

asynchronous feedback are the reasons behind its positive acceptance. On that account, the study of 

Alharbi (2020) approved that Google Docs supports writing instruction. Therefore, it is understandable 

that language learners in writing class show positive attitudes towards Google Docs (Nguyen, 2023).  

 
Behavioral Intention (BI) 

Considering the aspect of BI, Google Docs is seen based on the students’ preference for its potential 

use in the future, both in academic and professional settings. The students’ responses are presented in 

Table 4. 

  
Table 4. The results of questionnaires in BI 

Statements Responses 

Google Docs will be used in the next English letter-
writing class. 

18 students agreed 

Courses that will need help from Google Docs Advanced business correspondence courses, courses 
related to administration 

Google Docs can also be used at work to write 

documents in English. 

17 students agreed, 1 did not 

 
Based on BI, each of the students agreed that they will probably use Google Docs in their future 

courses. They mentioned that they might use it again in other business correspondence courses or 

courses that are related to administration, as they will have more English business correspondence 

courses in the next coming semesters. During the interview, the students stated: 

 

 



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“Yes, for sure. This application helps me so much.” (St. 1) 

“Of course. (St. 2) 
“I will.” (St. 3) 

“Yes, Google Docs really helps me when editing documents. Its simplicity really helps me. It is also good 

for collaborative writing.” (St. 4) 
“I will use it in the future.” (St. 5) 

“Surely I will.” (St. 6) 

 

The students’ intention to use Google Docs in their future course, i.e., in an academic purpose, 

has shown that they have been enlightened by the facility offered by Google Docs. It is understandable 

as using Google Docs is believed to provide students with an encouraging learning atmosphere 

(Shahidan, Ali, & Bakar, 2022), or learning motivation (Pratiwi et al., 2021) and it is enjoyable to use 

(Woodrich & Fan, 2017). More specifically, it is projected that motivational learning environment will 

significantly give an impact to social and psychological sides or learners (Shahidan, Ali, & Tilwani, 

2022). Considering the findings, the possibility of Google Docs practical use in the future might be 

increasing. By the same token, with the current trends in schooling online, the use of Google Docs in 

the context of EBP will be very promising. 

Further, when asked about using Google Docs in a professional context, most of them (17 

students) also concurred with the idea of using Google Docs at work when they had to write documents 

in English. The arguments mentioned in the views of PU, PEU, and ATT, i.e., its useful assistance, 

effortless use, and benefits are the determining factors that might have affected their choice. More 

specifically, for those working students —some of the interviewees are also working students— they 

said: 

 
“Yes, of course. It is so helpful.” (St. 1) 
“I currently use it very often at my office.” (St. 2) 

“Yes, maybe I will.” (St. 3) 
“Yes, even now, I am using it at campus and in my office. Google Docs helps me simplify and optimize 

jobs with my team.” (St. 4) 
“I have such an intention. Google Docs helps simplify things. It makes my job easier.” (St. 5) 

“Of course, I will use Google Docs because I have known that it is helpful.” (St. 6) 
 

This kind of student preference will emerge as Google Docs is proven to get things done more 

efficiently in document management. When working in a team, Google Docs will be a good choice as 

it enables multiple people to work together (Aldossary, 2022; Metilia & Fitrawati, 2018; 

Wahyuningsih, 2021). Another study has proven that it will be a great help for people who work at a 

distance due to the Google Docs facility for unlimited and flexible access (Mohamad et al., 2021; 

Moonma, 2021). Creating and editing documents in real-time will also be effortless due to immediate 

editing (Mohammed & Al-Jaberi, 2021), which makes work more efficient. Even Google Docs, based 

on the study reported by Opara et al. (2021), has a wider possibility of being used as an online written 

interview; in their research context, this tool is used to collect data from participants. Then, it is also 

possible for workers or management teams to conduct synchronously written interviews or meetings 

with their co-workers, or even interview worker candidates. 

To summarize, Google Docs will be an excellent resource for document processing, whether for 

academic or professional purposes in the workplace. Thus, Google Docs has been listed as one of the 

trusted instructional synchronous media in writing (Vutha, 2021).  

 

CONCLUSION 

The importance of giving students valuable and successful writing experiences cannot be overstated. 

On that basis, making use of user-friendly platforms is crucial. The results of the current study have 

demonstrated how beneficial Google Docs is as an instructional platform, regarding the students’ 

positive acceptance. Based on its utility and user-friendliness, Google Docs is generally well-received 

by students. Additionally, they exhibit a favorable attitude toward Google Docs and have good 

intentions to use it more in the future, whether for professional or academic endeavors. 

The results of this study might provide exposure to English lecturers when instructing their 

students in writing class, both for academic or specific purposes, with the expectation that their students 

will be equipped with good writing ability, content understanding, and technological competence. 

When remote or hybrid teaching is applied, schools or stakeholders may also consider this platform to 

be used in designing and developing curricula.  



Susilawati, Yustika Nur Fajriah, Sri Yunita| ELT Forum 12(2) (2023) 

107 

 

The generalizations made in this study, however, are based on a qualitative approach. Due to 

the potential use of Google Docs in equipping ESP students with content, language, and technological 

competence, the investigation of the quantitative effectiveness of Google Docs uses in EBP or more 

ESP courses with sizable samples is strongly advised. 

 

FUNDING STATEMENT 

The present study does not receive any funding from any agencies or institutions. 

 
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