STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME ESSAY WRITING DIFFICULTIES FACED BY ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS

3300 STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME ESSAY WRITING DIFFICULTIES FACED BY ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS Trần Phương Thanh, Phạm Hồng Nhung, Đặng Thị Yến Vi và Bùi Trần Ngọc Như Ý Khoa Tiếng Anh, Trường Đại học Côn. STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME ESSAY WRITING DIFFICULTIES FACED BY ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS

STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME ESSAY WRITING DIFFICULTIES FACED BY ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS Trần Phương Thanh, Phạm Hồng Nhung, Đặng Thị Yến Vi Bùi Trần Ngọc Như Ý * Khoa Tiếng Anh, Trường Đại học Cơng Nghệ TP Hồ Chí Minh GVHD: ThS Trần Kim Hồng ABSTRACT Essay writing is one of the most necessary skills for English-majored students to move up their academic ladder at the tertiary level However, essay writing is frequently regarded as a hindrance to students' success due to certain difficulties created by this type of writing Therefore, by looking closely into relevant articles on the issue, this study aims to outline some useful strategies for students to tackle their writing problems and act as a reference for those who plan to ameliorate essay writing skills The findings indicate that students frequently encounter problems related to grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and essay organization, which can be resolved with certain measures at individual and institutional level Từ khoá: English-majored students, essay writing, university, writing strategies, writing difficulties INTRODUCTION According to Lee and Tajino (2008) and Rae (2020), writing as a skill provides students with the opportunity to learn many other important skills that will help them succeed in their academics, careers, and other aspects of their lives The writing process involves several stages namely selecting suitable sources, reading texts, note-making, planning and outlining, combining various sources, organizing paragraphs, rewriting and proof-reading idea to produce a comprehensible text (Lee & Tajino,2008; Misra & Castillo, 2004 & Rae, 2020) With a proficient writing skills, students may strengthen their communication abilities, and sharpen their creativity and imagination levels which is essential for academic success (Misra & Castillo, 2004 & Rae, 2020) However, lots of English-majored students confront writing problems, especially essay writing which makes them easily get bored of studying and spend less time practicing the skill (Misra & Castillo, 2004 & Rae, 2020) LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Essay Writing Among different types of academic writing, academic essay writing is the most prevalent assignment An essay is a written material comprising one particular topic split up into more than a few paragraphs and links them together by adding an introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph(Misra & Castillo, 3300 2004 & Rae, 2020) The essay is often divided into three essential elements : the introduction consists of hook, thesis statement; the body paragraphs deploy the analysis and give the evidence support for the thesis, and (3) the conclusion of the essay is the paragraph recapitulating all the points and arguments (Lee & Tajino,2008; Misra & Castillo, 2004 & Rae, 2020) 2.2 Writing Difficulties In general, grammar is one of the biggest obstacles students face when writing including verb tenses, pronouns, coherence, run-on, spelling, improper use of punctuation (Alfaki, 2015; Bulqiyah & Mahbub, 2021; Misra & Castillo, 2004 & Rae, 2020) Particularly, the common errors relate to word classes, subjectverb agreement and forms of singular and plural (Fareed, Ashraf & Bilal, 2016) Almost all of the participants suffered from lexico-grammar issues when writing an essay (Bulqiyah & Mahbub, 2021) Students also struggle with syntax, which is also a grammar issue Learners frequently lack command over the structure of a sentence ( Bulqiyah & Mahbub, 2021 & Fareed, Ashraf & Bilal, 2016) Furthermore, students regularly make punctuation mistakes in their writing Similarly, verb form and word order were discovered to be insufficient, producing difficulty in expressing meaning (Fareed, Ashraf & Bilal, 2016) The majority of learners could not discern the difference between formal and informal structures, which was the most complex grammar issue Following that, the trouble in employing accurate tense in writing was always a major issue Difficulties in using correct writing structures had the lowest average grammar score (Thao & Quyen, 2020) Finally, among the issues people commonly have while dealing with essay writing are writing long sentences ( Bulqiyah & Mahbub, 2021 & Fareed, Ashraf & Bilal, 2016) One of the most critical problems impacting academic writing was spelling The majority of participants reported that they could not make a distinction between spoken and written words According to their research, using the wrong spelling word had the lowest score in this term (Thao & Quyen, 2020) In addition, as far as vocabulary is concerned, Students have difficulty organizing their thoughts, whilst others struggle in terms of vocabulary and collocation, as well as words and phrasal verbs (Alfaki, 2015; Bulqiyah & Mahbub, 2021; Misra & Castillo, 2004 & Rae, 2020) Spelling errors and spoken phrases in vocabulary are also widespread among students who use English as a second language, according to Fareed, Ashraf and Bilal (2016) We can see that differentiating between spoken and written words, as well as using incorrect words, is a lexical error that students find difficult to correct (Bulqiyah & Mahbub, 2021 & Fareed, Ashraf & Bilal, 2016) At organization level, the big obstacle that no one can deny is gathering and organizing ideas Starting to write an essay is always difficult; Thao and Quyen (2020) stated that students must deal with writing a good and appealing introduction, inability to create an outline, sequence, coherence, main ideas focus, ideas linking, and so on (Thao & Quyen, 2020) Students also struggle with the use of formal transitional and cohesive devices ( Bulqiyah & Mahbub, 2021 & Fareed, Ashraf & Bilal, 2016) 2.3 Writing strategies 3301 Many writing challenges can also be effectively solved at both individual and institutional level While at individual level, students improve their writing skills with the help of teachers and peers to tackle problems related to grammar and vocabulary (Bulqiyah & Mahbub, 2021) When it comes to institutional level’s writing challenges, it is inevitable to create a peaceful environment supporting both writing and reading motivation for students If students can more good reading, they can continuously enrich vocabulary and therefore, improve better writing ( Bulqiyah & Mahbub, 2021; Fareed, Ashraf & Bilal, 2016; & Thao & Quyen, 2020 ) As students can constantly practice reading and writing in such an inspiring learning environment, qualified teachers play an irreplaceable role at arranging writing courses or competitions as well as appreciating their students’ efforts By doing so, students would be naturally encouraged to write more without memorizing any ready-made essays but with their own imagination (Fareed, Ashraf & Bilal, 2016) RESEARCH METHOD The research aims to identify the writing difficulties faced by English-majored students and what strategies are used in academic essay writing Based on the research purpose, the study outlines two primary research questions by looking closely into four relevant articles of Alfaki (2015), Bulqiyah and Mahbub (2021), Fareed, Ashraf and Bilal (2016) and Thao and Quyen (2020) FINDING AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1 Essay writing difficulties faced by English-majored students Grammar errors of different word classes subject-verb agreement forms of singular and plural basic sentence structures lack of command over the structure of a sentence Punctuation Verb Form and Word Order The lexico-grammar difficulties formal and informal structures differentiation 10 using correct tenses 11 using correct writing structures 12 Writing long sentences 3302 Vocabulary Spelling spelling spoken expression spoken and written words differentiation using correct words lack of vocabulary wrong spelling of words using collocation using academic words and phrasal verbs spoken and written words differentiation wrong spelling of words lack of good introduction lacks coherence consolidation of knowledge use of formal transitional cohesive devices right pattern for a specific type of writing lack of idea focus and linking lack of outline lack of writing processes Organization 4.2 Writing strategies to overcome difficulties Various strategies to tackle writing difficulties from three articles of Fareed, Ashraf and Bilal (2016), Bulqiyah and Mahbub (2021) and Thao and Quyen (2020) are outlined At individual level, students are advised to ➢ Read various materials intensively and extensively to develop better writing and to enrich vocabulary ➢ practice in relation to vocabulary, supporting ideas, unity and coherence on a more regular basis ➢ seek academic language support from teachers 3303 ➢ make use of peer corrective feedback, online resources, free writing correction services At institution level, the examination system should be adjusted to avoid memorization and plagiarism, and shouldn't be about rote learning CONCLUSION To sum up, the study has highlighted the number of writing difficulties faced by English-majored students regarding grammar, vocabulary, organization and suggested some measures to resolve the problems ranging from individual level to institution level The findings of this study could present a roadmap for future research on essay writing with more in-depth issues REFERENCES [1] Alfaki, I M (2015) University students’ English writing problems: Diagnosis and remedy International Journal of English Language Teaching, 3(3), 40-52 [2] Bulqiyah, S., & Mahbub, M (2021) Investigating Writing Difficulties in Essay Writing: Tertiary Students' Perspectives English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 4(1), 61-73 [3] Fareed, M., Ashraf, A., & Bilal, M (2016) ESL learners’ writing skills: Problems, factors and suggestions Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 4(2), 81-92 [4] Lee, S C N., & Tajino, A (2008) Understanding students' perceptions of difficulty with academic writing for teacher development: A case study of the university of Tokyo writing program 京都大学高等 教育研究, 14, 1-11 [5] Linse, C T (2005) Practical English language teaching: Young learners (D Nunan, Ed.; International Edition) New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc [6] Misra, R & Catillo, L.G (2004) Academic stress among college students: comparison of American and international students International Journal of Stress Management, 11(2), 132-148 [7] Thao, T Q., & Quyen, N H N (2020) Exploring Tertiary English-Majored Students’academic Writing Difficulties 3304 ... 2016) RESEARCH METHOD The research aims to identify the writing difficulties faced by English- majored students and what strategies are used in academic essay writing Based on the research purpose,... type of writing lack of idea focus and linking lack of outline lack of writing processes Organization 4.2 Writing strategies to overcome difficulties Various strategies to tackle writing difficulties. .. number of writing difficulties faced by English- majored students regarding grammar, vocabulary, organization and suggested some measures to resolve the problems ranging from individual level to institution