The Role of Grammarly in Saudi EFL Writing: Students’ Perceptions of Its Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Overreliance

Abstract

The rapid adoption of AI writing assistants such as Grammarly in education has influenced how English language learners approach writing tasks. By providing automated feedback on linguistic errors, including mechanics (spelling, punctuation, and capitalization), grammar, and style, these tools may help learners improve writing accuracy, reduce cognitive load, and write more efficiently. However, excessive reliance on such tools is a cause for concern. This study investigated Saudi male preparatory-year EFL students’ perceptions of Grammarly at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University (n = 61). A validated questionnaire was used in a cross-sectional design to collect data on perceived effectiveness in correcting writing mechanics (spelling, capitalization, and punctuation), perceived efficiency, limitations, and overreliance. The findings indicated that most students perceived Grammarly as useful in correcting writing mechanics, particularly spelling (85.2%), capitalization (78.7%), and punctuation (68.9%). In addition, 68.8% of students agreed that Grammarly saved time and effort. Responses regarding overreliance were mixed: 37.7% indicated high overreliance on Grammarly, whereas 62.3% reported low/no overreliance. Spearman’s rho showed no significant association between perceived usefulness and overreliance (ρ = .105, p = .419). These findings suggest that Grammarly can be integrated into EFL writing instruction as a scaffold to support writing mechanics, provided that its use is guided in ways that also promote critical engagement and learner autonomy.