Exploring Students’ Perception Towards the Use of Grammarly to Improve Grammatical Accuracy in Essay Writing

The teaching of grammar poses challenges for both educators and learners, often resulting in frustration and disengagement. Thus, it is impertinent to find ways to make grammar lessons effective. This study investigates the effectiveness of using the Grammarly application as a tool for providing corrective feedback to improve students’ grammatical accuracy in essay writing. Specifically, it aimed to explore students’ perceptions of the Grammarly application’s use in improving their writing skills. The study also aims to highlight the significance of integrating digital tools into language instruction to support autonomous learning and motivation. A qualitative approach was adopted, involving semi-structured interviews with ten 19-year-old students from a public higher education institution in Selangor, Malaysia. The data were thematically analysed using four key themes: reasons, challenges, motivation, and method. Findings suggest that students perceive Grammarly as a helpful tool that helps them construct clearer sentences, increases their awareness of grammatical errors, and boosts their confidence and motivation to write. These insights offer practical implications for educators considering digital feedback tools in their grammar instruction. It is recommended that future studies investigate Grammarly’s effectiveness in diverse contexts and with larger populations to understand its broader educational impact better