Writing Support with Grammarly: Examining Confidence, Help-Seeking Behavior, and User Perceptions in Higher Education

ABSTRACT

This study examines Grammarly's utility as a writing assistant for enhancing higher education students' writing skills. University writing centers and classroom settings now incorporate Grammarly as a resource for writing assistance and there is a need to understand how students view its use and its link to help-seeking behavior. 476 university students completed the study’s questionnaire with the goal of assessing how students' help-seeking behaviors, writing confidence, and perceptions of Grammarly's effectiveness correlate with their use of the tool and its impact on writing quality. Initially, mean score comparison identified the levels students used Grammarly and Spearman correlations found a significant positive correlation between Grammarly use and improvements in writing quality and confidence. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed statistically significant differences in writing confidence and help-seeking behaviors across academic years and between free and paid Grammarly users, indicating the tool's version and academic level's distinct effects on writing development. Participants who use the paid version reported more substantial benefits, highlighting the added value of premium features. Qualitative feedback from students underscores Grammarly's role in identifying grammatical errors, enhancing sentence structure, and bolstering writing confidence. However, critiques emerged concerning the occasional impractical suggestions and the perceived limitations of the free version. The findings suggest practical implications for integrating digital tools in educational settings and recommend directions for future research on technology's role in academic writing support.