International Journal on Integrated Education Volume 3, Issue XII

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ISSN : 2620
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ISSN : 2615
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International Journal on Integrated Education
Volume 3, Issue XII,
December
2020
|
453
DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING WRITING SKILL
Muminova Surayo Akramovna,
teacher of Samarkand Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Uzbek Language,
Literature and Foreign Languages
[e-mail]
Tangirova Aziza Alimovn
teacher of Samarkand
Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Uzbek Language,
Literature and Foreign Languages
[e-mail]
Fayzullaeva Nasiba Djurakulovna
teacher of "Uzbek language, literature and foreign languages" department of
Samarkand Institute of
Veterinary Medicine
[e-mail]
ABSTRACT
This study focuses on the problems that teachers faced upon imparting writing skills to their students in
ordinary classroom settings. It is noteworthy that developing students’ English languag
e writing skills can be a
challenging task for any teacher. It is particularly so at the university levels within the context of Saudi Arabia.
To write effectively in either a second or foreign language, it may require both high language skills and
experie
nce, and this can be perceived as a challenge for English Second Language learners. Upon observations,
it was discovered in the present context that regular teaching plan happens with the sequential order of
listening, speaking, reading and writing within
teaching programs. Referring to this sequential order in which
language skills are taught, writing comes as the last skill even though this skill cannot be disregarded and needs
considerable attention from both teachers and students owing to its most impor
tance in their daily academic
lives.
Keywords:
:
teaching, writing skill, English language, teacher, challenge, grammar.
1.
INTRODUCTION
Difficulties of teaching the writing skills of the English language are reportedly one of the most challenging
tasks whi
ch are not only experienced by native speakers but also the English Second Language teachers around
the globe. A significant number of students may have learned such writing skills in the course of their education
at the high school level. These students’
writing proficiency along with their weaknesses while undergoing their
educational programs may only be revealed by means of assessing their coursework samples or final exams.
Due to the increased demands that the academic writing place on the students for
delivering an effective English
language writing sample, it is therefore necessary to carry out an investigation to gauge whether or not the
English Second Language teachers had to face difficulties in teaching writing skill Good writing requires
preparat
ion and suitable feedback, which teachers must never underestimate. Students with weaknesses of the
English language writing skills may consequently result in lagging behind in both their academic and career
lives. This research is considered a step to poi
nt out the deterring elements, which touch the teaching and the
learning methods of the English language writing skills. The main contribution of this research is to highlight
the most challenging aspects in relation to the environment and the learners due
to which in many cases,
influence the teachers in developing the English language writing skills. It is hoped that the outcomes of this
study may serve as guidelines to the administrative authorities to help facilitate both the teaching and learning of
wr
iting skills at the university levels. The findings of this study revealed that the problems associated with
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ISSN : 2620
3502
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ISSN : 2615
3785
International Journal on Integrated Education
Volume 3, Issue XII,
December
2020
|
454
teaching of writing skills can be addressed by means of various approaches. The ultimate goal of the teachers is
to develop the writing skills, com
petence of language among the students, which includes, sociolinguistics
competence, grammatical competence, strategic competence, and discourse competence. Besides, teachers also
may need to have a better understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of
all the primary writing methods.
Teachers must always apply a combination of these approaches simultaneously since writing problems are likely
to arise when teachers rely solely on one teaching technique or strategy.
THE MAIN PART
The findings are describ
ed regarding the English teachers’ experiences in teaching writing and the
challenges they confront during the teaching of writing, an English Teachers’ Experiences in Teaching Writing
Towards the question of what writing activities learners mostly perform
in the classroom, the teachers mostly
ask the learners to perform vary, all of which are related to genres of text such as report, recount, narrative and
so on. Half of the subjects who mostly teach in Senior High School ask them to make a text in a form
of
controlled writing activities in the end of the writing class. Another half, however, tend to follow what is in the
LKS and ask the learners to practice the writing in it such as filling up blanks, making sentences in a
grammatical way, etc. Moreover, c
oncerning time allocation for developing students’ English writing skill by
practicing in each period, among the ten (10) teachers, 30% of them give 25 to 30 minutes for writing practice
on daily basis while 20% provide approximately 15 minutes only; to do
a brainstorming, simple practice, etc.
Only 10% give 40minutes and 40% give no time for writing practice at all. Also, teaching strategies or
techniques that the teachers adopt for teaching writing vary. 30% of the subjects clearly mention GTM
(Grammar Tr
anslation Method) is as the method they often use to teach writing. 40% use both GTM and DM
(Direct Method). The rest of the subjects use techniques like brainstorming, mind
-
mapping, etc. Besides, some
teachers mentioned some aids used to teach writing. Th
ey have either audio or video aids available in each
classroom. Among those having such A/V aids available, however, only a half of them make use of the aids.
Another half seldom or never use them in teaching writing. Nevertheless, the rest of the subjects
do not use any
aids unless white board and books because there are only white boards and books available; most of which are
those teaching in rural area. The main discussion on whether writing is challenging, 90% of the subjects say that
teaching writing
is challenging due to several factors such as the class condition, the aids they can use for
teaching and the availability of time the students can practice. They also mention several factors of the students’
themselves, such as the students’ linguistic co
mpetence, motivation and their low reading habit. Another 10%
say that teaching writing is neither easy nor challenging compared to teaching writing. She found teaching
speaking is more challenging than teaching writing. The students’ performance was also
discussed, related to
the challenges. All of the subjects have the same answer that the learners writing ability in general are mostly
poor. Those who are teaching in rural area notably found that at least 80% of their learners in a class have
difficulties
in linguistic competence such as lack of grammar and vocabulary mastery. Meanwhile, those who
are in urban area admit that some learners are quite competent in writing, especially those who are in Senior
High School. Those who are in Junior High School in
urban area found that some students have quite good
linguistic competence but very poor sentence structure ability. From ten (10) EFL teachers involved in this
study, those who teach in either rural or urban area perceive teaching writing to be a quite c
hallenging task. To
discuss what factors contribute to the challenges, this study has found out that there are several factors which
can be divided into internal and external factors. Internal factors mean those that appear to be the learners'.
There are f
our internal factors will be discussed; native language interference, English competence (e.g.
linguistic competence such as grammar knowledge, vocabulary mastery), motivation, and reading habit. In
addition to the internal factors, there are other factors
. To date, this study is the first to investigate teachers from
different part of East Java regarding their challenges of teaching writing. Challenges in teaching writing are
complex. It is not only related with the learners’ factors but also external one
s. In the internal factors, the
challenges are related with native language, linguistic competence, and motivation. Those problems are related
with condition of the learners. The external challenges are teaching writing at large class and the availability
of
aids and time. Based on the challenges above, it suggests the teacher: In the first place, the teachers need to
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ISSN : 2620
3502
p
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ISSN : 2615
3785
International Journal on Integrated Education
Volume 3, Issue XII,
December
2020
|
455
match the tasks that they ask the learners to perform with their language level. This means ensuring that they
have the minimum language they
would need to perform such a task. Secondly, the teachers need to ensure that
there is a purpose to the task and that learners are aware of this.
THEORETICAL PART
Next stage, drafting can come. SS should attend to text generation globally, i.e. on the s
entence and
discourse level, not to worry about finer nuances of the appropriacy of individual words as yet, revising and
editing. SS revise globally first (checking organisation and sequencing of ideas, attending to appropriacy of
cohesive devices) and ma
ke necessary changes. Then they revise locally. This time attend to appropriacy of
individual words. Encouraging students as early on as possible to use monolingual dictionaries is advisable.
Correcting possible grammatical mistakes also belongs to this st
age. Finally
–
proofreading. SS attend to
spelling and punctuation here. The stages of drafting, revising, editing and proofreading can be done as
homework for a more efficient exploitation of classroom time. Students then bring to the class the first draf
t
they are satisfied with. Next
–
SS are given feedback on their drafts, preferably first by peers, then by T. It is
useful to negotiate feedback so that SS have a clear understanding of what is unclear/wrong/inaccurate in their
compositions. Problems and
inaccuracies should only be indicated and students try to correct themselves. Still,
they should also be allowed to rely on peers’ and/or teacher’s help on how to improve the necessary aspects if
they feel they are not competent enough to cope. The writing
skills are very important for the students with
regard to assessment and evaluation of the students’ level of understanding in different subjects. These skills are
also significant in case of awarding grades. The grades are critically important for admiss
ions to different degree
program and for getting an employment. This study is based on the review of literature to explore difficulties
faced by students in writing, especially in the second language. According to the researchers, writing is a
reflective a
ctivity and requires thinking, ideas, relevant knowledge and vocabulary. The writing in second
language becomes even more difficult task for the students. Writing is more difficult than speaking because the
former is more formal than the latter, and also d
ue to the fact that people speak more than writing in their
routine life. Moreover, spoken language occurs in natural environment; whereas, writing takes place in artificial
environment. Writing requires learning vocabulary and grammar. It has also been fo
und that good writers are
also the good readers. The literature shows that teachers use different approaches to teach writing skills to their
students. Students’ learning of the writing skills also depends on the teachers’ approaches to teach the writing
s
kills.
PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING WRITING SKILL
Language transfer is another aspect through which nature of writing can be determined. According to a
scholar, writers transfer writing abilities and strategies from their first language to their s
econd language. In this
regard Jones and Tetroe‟s study as cited in reported that “weaker writers‟ failure to use writing strategies in
English was based on their failure to use these strategies in their first language”. Contrary to this viewpoint is
the o
pinion put forth by Blanchard &Root who argued that writing was like the art of driving a car. If one
knows the art of driving, one may know the driving rules of that country, but if he is to drive in another country
one may not know all the rules. Same i
s the case with languages. The conventions of language may change from
one to another. Purposes of writing According to Coffin et all students compose writing for a number of reasons
such as to be assessed, to develop their critical thinking skills, to hel
p their understanding and memory, to
broaden their learning beyond the classroom, to enhance their communicative skills, and to be prepared as future
professionals in different fields of knowledge.
PROBLEM SOLVING IN WRITING SKILL.
Moreover, this approac
h makes the teacher judge the finished products of the students. Error detection
also falls in this approach. Teachers find out the errors committed by the students and try to eliminate the.
Process approach When the product approach could not provide frui
tful results to composition writing more
attention was given to the process of writing. Resultantly, this led to a shift towards what is called the process
approach which considers writing as a complex, cognitive, recursive and evolving process. Six stages
of writing