Teaching writing when the sentences sound better than the thinking

Purpose This narrative aims to examine what writing feedback has come to mean in a multilingual provincial university classroom where students increasingly revise between teacher guidance and AI-generated suggestions. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in classroom experience across Advanced Grammar in English, History of the English Language and Language and Journalism, courses in a university in the Philippines with a number of Indigenous students, the paper reflects on how students negotiate feedback in contexts shaped by language diversity, institutional expectations and emerging AI use. Findings Students value teacher feedback for clarity, explanation, personalization and support for deeper revision, while AI feedback is appreciated for speed, accessibility and help with surface-level concerns. Research limitations/implications As a teacher narrative rooted in one context, the paper offers situated insight rather than broad generalization. It points to the need for further classroom-based work on feedback, AI-assisted revision and multilingual writing. Practical implications English teachers need to help students distinguish between surface correction and deeper revision, and to use AI critically rather than unreflectively. Social implications Feedback shapes not only writing quality but also students’ sense of legitimacy, voice and belonging, especially in multilingual and Indigenous-facing classrooms. Originality/value The paper shows that AI has not displaced teacher feedback but clarified its interpretive, relational and ethical value in English teaching.