Exploring students' perception of automated writing feedback: The use of Grammarly in academic writing

The rapid development of automated writing feedback tools has transformed how students revise and evaluate academic writing, and Grammarly is among the most widely used platforms. However, students’ perceptions of its benefits and challenges are still not fully understood; therefore, this study aims to explore students’ perceptions of using Grammarly in academic writing. This research employed a qualitative design in which the primary data were obtained from semi-structured interviews, while supporting data were collected through questionnaires and document analysis of students’ essay assignments. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns and themes. The findings revealed two main categories: perceived benefits and perceived challenges. Five benefit themes emerged, namely increased grammatical awareness, improved grammatical accuracy, assistance in revision, enhanced writing confidence, and greater editing efficiency. Five challenge themes were also identified, consisting of inaccurate or misleading feedback, cognitive overload, emotional pressure from visual corrections, overdependence on automated suggestions, and loss of personal writing style. Overall, the discussion indicates that Grammarly operates as a double-edged tool: it promotes accuracy, noticing of errors, and independent revision, yet it may also reduce autonomy and cause emotional discomfort when students rely on it uncritically. Thus, Grammarly is best positioned as a supplementary tool alongside teacher guidance and students’ grammatical understanding.