Process of Writing: The Challenges in Writing Skill Among ESL Learners
Faizah Baharudin, Nur Hani Laily Ramli, Aisyah Hani Mohd Habali, Azie Azlina Azmi, Noor Hanim Rahmat
Abstract
Writing in English is considered a challenging task for students who learn English as a second language. This is proven through studies on writing that revealed ESL learners faced difficulties in writing due to various factors. This quantitative survey study is conducted in order to investigate the relationship between writing difficulties with before and while writing. A survey questionnaire consisting of five sections with 41 items was distributed to 179 respondents who are ESL learners at the centre of foundation studies in Malaysia. The finding of this study revealed that the main difficulty faced by the ESL foundation learners in writing is the inability to achieve the goal of the writing task given to them in language classrooms. Even though there is no strong correlation between writing difficulties and the writing process, this study helps both ESL learners and educators to understand some of the actual factors that caused ESL learners to feel unmotivated during writing activities and the writing process to some extent helps learners to develop their writing skills.