A study on the difficulties and solutions to improve english writing skill for first year english major students at hung yen university of technology and education

HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

---------------------------------------

LÊ THỊ THU

A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTION TO
IMPROVE ENGLISH WRITING SKILL FOR FIRST
YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HUNG YEN
UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN VÀ GIẢI
PHÁP ĐỂ HỌC KỸ NĂNG VIẾT CHO SINH VIÊN
NĂM NHẤT KHOA NGÔN NGỮ TẠI ĐẠI HỌC SƯ
PHẠM KỸ THUẬT HƯNG YÊN)
Major: English language
Code:

Hung Yen –6/ 2021


HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

---------------------------------------

LÊ THỊ THU

A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTION TO
IMPROVE ENGLISH WRITING SKILL FOR FIRST

YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HUNG YEN
UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN VÀ GIẢI PHÁP
ĐỂ HỌC KỸ NĂNG VIẾT CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM NHẤT
KHOA NGÔN NGỮ TẠI ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM KỸ THUẬT
HƯNG YÊN)

Major: English language
Code:
Supervisor : Pham Ngoc Son

Hung Yen – 6/2021


i

DECLARATION
I certify my authorship of the study report entitled “A study on the difficulties and
solutions to improve English writing skill for first year English major students at Hung
Yen University of Technology and Education.”
This graduation paper is the result of my research and the substance of this graduation
paper has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution and that if this
declaration is found to be false, disciplinary measures and penalties can be taken and imposed
following university policies and rules.
Signature

Le Thi Thu

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
During the process of doing this graduation paper, I have received much necessary
assistance, precious ideas, and timely encouragement from my lecturers, family, and friends.
This paper could not have been completed without the help, encouragement, and support from
several people who all deserve my sincerest gratitude and appreciation.
First of all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor – Mr. Pham Ngoc Son,
the English teacher of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, who has always been willing to give
me valuable advice and suggestions so that I can complete successfully this study.
I also would like to take this opportunity to show my sincere thanks to all my lecturers at
the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hung Yen University of Technology and Education, who
have handed me basic knowledge to complete this study.
I am so thankful to students of K18 at the Faculty of Foreign Languages for their wholeheart participation in the study.
I would like to acknowledge my thanks to all the authors of the books, magazines, and the
other materials listed in the reference part for their ideas that have been reflected and developed
in the study.
I am equally indebted to my classmates for their suggestions and encouragement in the
process of my study.
Last but not least, my particular thanks are given to my parents for their encouragement
and support which played an important role in my graduation paper.


iii

ABSTRACT

Research aims to find out the difficulties that students face in writing skills. Quantitative
methods are used to analyze and find solutions to problems. The study was conducted at
UTEHY and the subjects of this study were first-year English majors at FFL. This study

involved 83 students and 5 lecturers. Data were collected using questionnaires for lecturers and
students. The results of the analysis of difficulties to students' writing skills show that writing
is a very difficult skill for students to learn a foreign language. To solve these difficulties and
wish to improve the current situation, the researcher proposes a number of solutions so that both
lecturers and students can teach and learn better for first-year English majors. are learning
writing skills at UTEHY more effectively in the near future.


iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ......................................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..........................................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................... iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................vii
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS ....................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1
1.1.Rationale for the study .......................................................................................................... 1
1.2.Aim and objectives of the study ........................................................................................... 2
1.3.Research questions ................................................................................................................ 2
1.4.Subjects of the study ............................................................................................................. 2
1.5.The scope of the study .......................................................................................................... 2
1.6.Significance of the study....................................................................................................... 3
1.7.Structure of the study ............................................................................................................ 3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................... 4
2.1.An overview of writing ......................................................................................................... 4
2.1.1.Definitions of writing......................................................................................................... 4
2.1.2.Stages of writing ................................................................................................................ 5
2.1.3.The importance of writing ................................................................................................. 6

2.2.The difficulties of writing ..................................................................................................... 6
2.2.1.The difficulties faced by the students in learning writing skills ........................................ 7
2.2.2.The difficulties faced by the lecturers in learning writing skills ....................................... 8
2.3.The solutions to improve of writing ................................................................................... 10


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2.3.1.The solutions to improve by the students in learning writing skills ................................ 10
2.3.2.The solutions to improve by the lecturers in learning writing skills ............................... 10
2.3.3.Conclusion: ...................................................................................................................... 11
2.4.Summary: ............................................................................................................................ 12
CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY ..................................................................................................... 13
3.1. Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 13
3.2.Survey questionnaires: ........................................................................................................ 13
3.3.Data collection: ................................................................................................................... 13
3.3.1.Data collection from students: ......................................................................................... 13
3.3.2.Data collection from lecturers: ........................................................................................ 14
3.4.Data analysis and discussion: ............................................................................................. 14
3.4.1.Attitude towards of writing skills .................................................................................... 14
3.4.2.Some difficulties for students and lecturers ..................................................................... 18
3.4.3.Some suggested solutions for lecturers and students ....................................................... 22
3.5.Main findings and discussions ............................................................................................ 27
3.5.1.The attitudes of students towards writing skills............................................................... 28
3.5.2.The difficulties in learning writing skills ......................................................................... 28
3.5.3.Difficult in the students' strategies ................................................................................... 28
3.5.4.Suggestions for the solution ............................................................................................. 29
3.5.4.1.Create and maintain a positive atmosphere for learning. .............................................. 29
3.5.4.2.Take advantage of the 'out-of-book' lessons ................................................................. 29
3.5.4.3.Give students ownership and publishing ...................................................................... 30

3.5.4.4.Engage students in writing regularly ............................................................................ 30


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3.5.4.5.Provide students with constructive response and guide them how to offer response to
other writes……………………………………………………………………………………31
3.5.4.6.Provide opportunities for students to collaborate as writers ......................................... 31
3.6.Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 32
3.6.1.For students. ..................................................................................................................... 32
3.6.2.For lecturers ..................................................................................................................... 33
CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 34
4.1. The summary of study ....................................................................................................... 34
4.2.Limitations of research ....................................................................................................... 34
4.3.Recommended for more research ....................................................................................... 35
REFERENCE............................................................................................................................ 36
APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS ............................................ I
APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR LECTURERS ........................................VI


vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1.

FFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages

2.

UTEHY: Hung Yen University of Technology and Education

3.

M.A: Master of Arts

4.

PhD: Doctor of Philosophy


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LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
Chart 3.1. Student’s opinion about the importance of writing skills…………………............ 14
Chart 3.2. Lecturer’s opinion about the importance of writing skills...………..…….……......15
Chart 3.3. The student's attitude towards learning English writing skills………………...…...16
Chart 3.4. The student's attitude towards learning English writing skills…………..……........17
Chart 3.5. The difficulties often affecting student's writing skills….………….….……...…...18
Chart 3.6. the difficulties often affecting lecturer’s writing skills..…………….……….….…19
Chart 3.7. The difficulties in pre- writing stage………………………….…….......………….20
Chart 3.8. The difficulties in pre-teaching of writing…………………………………….…...21
Chart 3.9. The difficulties in post- writing stage……………………………………..…..…...21
Chart 3.10. The difficulties in post-teaching of writing……………………………………….22
Chart 3.11. Some suggested solutions related to writing to improve your students' English
writing skills………………………………….………......................................................……23
Chart 3.12. Some suggested solutions related to writing to improve lecturer’s English writing
skills………………………………………………………………………..…….…………....23
Chart 3.13. Some suggested solutions related to doing students face in the Pre-writing
stage………………………………………………...………………..………..……………....24

Chart 3.14. Some suggested solutions related to do teaching face in the Pre-teaching of writing
skills…………………………………………….…………………………………….……….25
Chart 3.15. Some suggested solutions related to doing students face in the post writing
stage………….……………………………………………………………….…….………....26
Chart 3.16. Some suggested solutions related to do teaching face in the post-teaching of
writing skills………………………………..….…………………………………...………….27


1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1.

Rationale for the study

Nowadays, the influence of English for the world is extremely important. Moreover,
English is used as an effective international medium. English is an important and essential
language in every field of life, such as: Economics, education, technology, State, defense,
etc. To master the English language, students need to grasp all four intimate communication
skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Writing is the most important but most
difficult skill compared to other skills because it requires learners to be fully equipped with
not only background knowledge but also skills to write. Among these skills, long-term
literacy has been considered to be the most challenging and most difficult challenge for all
because of foreign languages, but this is also a treasure store for students. The first-year
students of the Hung Yen University of Technology and Education school also have a lot of
hard work learning to write. At the same time, first-year students had little opportunity to
train their English-language skills before they went to college. In addition, writing skills are
especially important for freshman English students because writing is critical skill that can
lead to success or failure in the second year, third and fourth as you desire to write more and

more in English.
More importantly, the ability to write is a sustainability skill set for students who later
write an academic literature or make a good essay. Writing skills can help students easily
detect errors in grammar, vocabulary, words, and ideas. From this point we can learn
weakness as well as our weaknesses to improve our ability to write. In fact, the writing skills
of the freshman year are still limited, the ability to use the word is still poor, the grammar is
still unclear, and the physiology is still much more than written and has not yet known how
to use words to piece the phrase in the correct context.
After studying the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Hung Yen University of Technology
and Education (UTEHY) for nearly 4 years, I find that first-year students majoring in English
still have many difficulties in learning writing skills. At this point, I will clarify students'
difficulties in learning writing skills, find out the causes of difficulties and then propose
some effective methods to help students have good motivation and development. develop


2

writing skills, contribute to improving learning outcomes. With the hope of finding out the
writing factors that students often have, I would like to introduce the title of the graduation
article “A study on difficulties and solutions to improve English writing skill for first year
English major students at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education.” has been
conducted because of all above-mentioned reason.
1.2.

Aim and objectives of the study
The study is done with the following arms:
-

To find out the attitudes of the lecturers and the first-year English major
students toward teaching and learning writing skill at UTEHY.

-

To investigate the difficulties in teaching and learning writing skills at
UTEHY.

-

To suggest some solutions to improve teaching and learning English writing
skills for both first-year English major students and lecturers at UTEHY.

1.3.

Research questions

1. What are the attitudes of the lecturer and the first-year English major students toward
teaching and learning writing skills at UTEHY?
2. What are the difficulties in teaching and learning writing skills at UTEHY?
3. What are some solutions to improve teaching and learning English writing skills for both
first-year English major students and lecturers at UTEHY?
1.4.

Subjects of the study
-

83 major first-year students from the Faculty of Foreign Languages at
UTEHY.

1.5.

5 lecturers of English at the Faculty of Foreign Languages at UTEHY.

The scope of the study
Research on the difficulties and improvement of writing skills for first-year English

language students at UTEHY. Due to limited time and knowledge, lack of references,
this study cannot cover the entire issue of writing skills. It focuses solely on exploring
common difficulties affecting students' writing ability. Furthermore, research cannot
touch all students. It is limited to first-year English majors of the Faculty of Foreign
Languages at UTEHY learning writing skills for first-year students in the English faculty
at UTEHY.


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1.6.

Significance of the study
Though writing is always the most difficult skill in learning English. Therefore,

this study has given the causes and some common errors when learning to write English.
In addition, this study also offers ways to fix it, hope these tips will help you write better
in your English learning process. Hopefully the findings of the study will be useful for
lecturers as well as English learners. Once the correct type and cause of a particular error
has been found, the teacher will understand the student's problem while writing the essay
and can come up with appropriate teaching methods.
1.7.

Structure of the study

The organization of this research includes four main chapters and is arranged as follow:


Chapter 1: Introduction which deals with the rationale of the study, aims of the
study, the research questions of the study, scope of the study, subjects of the study,
significance of the study, structure of the study.



Chapter 2: Literature Review which deals with the overview of writing, difficulties
of writing and the solutions to improve of writing



Chapter 3: The Study which deals with methodology, survey questionnaires, data
collection tools and participants.



Chapter 4: Conclusion includes the summary of study, limitations of research and
recommended for more research


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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1.

An overview of writing

2.1.1. Definitions of writing
There are many definitions of writing skills defined by researchers in many different
ways:
Firstly, according to Nunan, (2003) writing is a physical and mental act. It's about
exploring ideas, thinking about how to convey them into sentences and passages that the
reader can understand. Writing has two purposes: to impress and to express. Writers must
choose the most convenient means for their writing. Each type has a different difficulty level
determined by its goals. Writing is both a process and a product. Writers create, plan, execute
various manuscripts, modify, edit and publish. (Nunan, David. 2003. Practical English
language Teaching (1st Ed.). New York: Longman)
Secondly, according to Heaton: The writing skill in a foreign language is complex and
difficult to learn not only the ability to use structures, but also conceptual of varied skills
such as stylistic and mechanical skill. Stylistic skill is the ability to manipulate sentences and
use language effectively whereas mechanical skill is the ability to use correctly those
conventions peculiar to the written language such as punctuation and spelling. (Heaton, J.B.
(1979) Writing English Language Tests: A Practical Guide for Lecturers of English. 5th
Edition, Longman, London, pp 138)
According to Murcia (1991: 233) “writing is the ability to express one’s ideas in written
form”. Meaning writing is the act of expressing your ideas in text form (Marianne C. Murcia.
1991. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Boston: Heinle Publishers).
Harmer (2007: 112) argues that writing can be defined as writing to learn and writing to
write. Writing for learning means writing as a tool to practice the language learned, and
writing to-writing, it is a tool for developing students' writing skills. So people have a
purpose to write, they can learn to write by trying to write something and develop their
own writing skills. (Harmer, Jeremy. 2007. “The Practice of English Language Teaching”,
Pearson Longman)


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Based on the above definitions, it can be concluded that distinguishable writing from
other skills is the most difficult skill. There are many difficulties that affect writing, such as
grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, and spelling must be integrated into a paragraph.
Writing is the way of thinking or sending messages from the writer to the reader, being part
of a language or language skill and it also means communication.
2.1.2. Stages of writing
Writing cannot be done without going through certain stages. All writers go through their
own unique writing process before coming up with a final draft. Usually, writers begin to
write first, then they compose sentences and paragraphs to form a rough draft. After they
make a rough draft, writers can begin modifying their work by adding multiple sentences or
removing sentences. Writers can then correct their rough drafts by changing words and
sentences that aren't grammatically wrong or relevant to a topic to publish. Each stage is
clearly shown in the writing process.
The first is pre-writing: This is the planning stage of the writing process, when drafting,
modifying, and outlining ideas, often using diagrams to map out your thoughts. Object and
purpose should be considered at this point, and for older students, a working thesis statement
should begin.
The second is drafting: The writer creates the original layout by writing down all of his
ideas in an organized way to convey a particular idea or present an argument. Object and
purpose need to be perfected.
The third is modifications: review, modify and reorganize their work by rearranging,
adding or removing content and by making the tone, style, and content relevant to the target
audience concentration. The goal of this stage of the writing process is to improve the draft.
The fourth is editing: At this point in the writing process, the writer corrects and corrects
the grammatical and mechanical errors, corrects to improve the style and clarity. Having
feedback from other writers during this time is helpful.
Final publication: In this final step of the writing process, the final writing is shared with
the team. Sharing can be done in many ways and with the help of a computer, it can even be
printed or published online.

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2.1.3. The importance of writing
Kelly (1969:145) said that: "By practicing writing, a person learns proper word usage
to persuade the reader to listen to them. The writer does this by using "key words" at proper
intervals, the writing process helps to develop the skill of critical speaking".
Harmer (1998) points out that writing skill has finally been recognized as an important
skill for language learning. He lays stress on the essentiality of the writing skill saying "The
reason for teaching writing to students of English a foreign language includes reinforcement,
language development, learning style, and most importantly, writing as a skill in its own
right".
Writing is meant to convey thoughts, ideas, and events in language that is easy to
understand and discern. Good writing skills are essential for success in the workplace.
Whether it's an email, a project report or a sales proposal, content filled with spelling errors,
grammatical errors, and poorly constructed sentences suggest a similar attitude toward work.
Even students should have good writing skills that are essential for all students to fulfill their
educational and employment requirements. Here are some reasons why writing is so
important:
Write technical documents, research papers and come up with relevant facts and
information.
Professionalism: With effective writing skills, your messages can be understood by your
peers in a better way. Writing clear messages makes it easier for others to understand your
ideas and thoughts.
Prove your competence at work: Whether or not your job requires a lot of writing, people
may even remember a few grammatical and spelling errors from your content. And these
little mistakes can make you seem less competent at work.
Increase professional confidence: Every piece of content has a motive. A well-written
business proposal will appeal to potential investors and partnerships. Clear and well-focused

email can impress the buyer even more. And your well-built reports will engage your
manager.
2.2.

The difficulties of writing


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2.2.1. The difficulties faced by the students in learning writing skills
As a natural rule in the process of formation, learning, and development of any
language, writing is always the last learned skill compared to the three remaining skills of
listening, speaking, and reading. However, writing is considered the most difficult skill for
learners. In English learning as a foreign language, there is no exception. Learners often have
difficulties in writing their texts even in their language. For English writing, those difficulties
seem much bigger. This issue has been a widely discussed topic of linguists and foreign
language researchers in the world.
Each student may face different challenges in learning writing. All the students are
special and unique in their own ways. These challenges will somehow pull back the students
from moving forward to produce a good piece of writing. The following paragraphs are about
challenges faced by students in writing.
Lack of vocabulary has caused the students to face challenges in acquiring writing
skills claimed Misbah et al. (2017). Vocabulary is an important aspect of writing because it
is to be a basic component of the success of writing skill. Vocabulary is the fundamental
element in constructing sentences which is the core of effective writing skills Asep (2014).
Lack of vocabulary is a problem that often occurs during class activity, besides, become a
crucial problem for the teacher nonetheless the students. Lecturers might found it hard to be
handled. Even not all the students face the problem, having this kind of problem sure will be
a limit for them, especially in writing a paragraph or even a sentence.
Some students are also having trouble with grammar. Grammar, in writing skills,

determines how a paragraph build-up and how the ideas can be understood. Grammar plays
an important role in writing. Grammar provides information that helps the readers to
understand its meaning. It is a structure that conveys the detailed meaning of the writer to
the reader. Grammar also explains the forms and structure of words, called morphology, and
how they are arranged in sentences, called syntax. By having very limited knowledge of
grammar, students will face anxiety to write sentences with correct grammar. According to
Muhammad Fareed et al. (2016), students make mistakes in subject-verb agreement,
pronouns, tenses, articles, prepositions, and basic sentence structures. Grammar ability can
be improved through reading activity and grammar-related activities.


8

Spelling is most important in writing. If any students mistake spelling, then lecturers
can’t understand what they are writing about. Poor spelling is another cause of anxiety for
students in learning writing skills and this is supported by Nyang’au Benard (2014). Having
good ability in spelling will lead to positive learning of writing skills. If the students are
struggling with spelling, it will hold them back to move forward. The students have the habit
to spell according to their pronunciation and this will lead to wrong spelling as mentioned
by Afrin (2016). The students will either add or leave letters of the words. For example
“ballon” instead of “balloon.” According to Nyang’au Benard (2014), memorization of the
spelling will help the students to have good spelling.
Lack of motivation also is another challenge faced by the students. It can direct
behavior toward particular goals, lead to increased effort and energy. If the students are not
motivated, they might not be interested to proceed with their learning process. Motivation is
important in improving students’ learning results claimed Gbollie & Keamu (2017).
Lecturers could motivate the students by rewarding them with simple motivational phrases
by saying “Good job!”, “Good try!”, “Keep it up” etc. The positive reward will make the
students go further in their learning process.
Last but not the least, lack of exposure to books and reading materials are other challenges

for elementary school students in learning writing and this is supported by Foster (2015).
According to Muhammad Fareed et al. (2016), many students find it very challenging
to get enough and a significant source of information. Lack of extensive reading will not
help the students to write good sentences or paragraphs. This is because reading and writing
are interrelated. If the students are not reading books or other reading materials, they are
going to have a lack of ideas and vocabulary to write. Their brain neurons will be connected
to each other to come out with good writing if they read more and connecting the ideas with
their prior knowledge. Foster (2015) explained that exposure to different reading materials
can help the students to be aware with language awareness explained.
2.2.2. The difficulties faced by the lecturers in learning writing skills
Teaching writing seems to be the difficult part for lecturers. Teaching English at the high
school level is naturally much more different from teaching at other levels. The challenges


9

may somehow make the lecturers teaching ineffective. The following can be seen as the
hindrances confronted by lecturers.
Nowadays, lecturers seem to have a hard time motivating the students to write. This
derives from the fact that the students are not interested in learning writing (Asep, 2014).
Undoubtedly, the young have the perception that they can do whatever they please as their
parents have given them much freedom. When students feel reluctant in learning, it is a sign
of lack of motivation (Abrar, 2016).
Another obstacle in teaching English writing skills at the high school is that pupils have
different levels of English language. In fact, in many high schools, students with different
levels are placed in the same class which can result in challenges for lecturers to make
provision for all the students at the same time (Asep, 2014). Moreover, different levels of
writing ability require lecturers to apply different approaches. As a result, the lecturers feel
challenging to plan their lessons and prepare appropriate activities for the students.
Another hindrance is from student’s parental indifference. Lack of parents’ support

makes lecturers having a hard time helping the students. Students who feel a lack of warmth
and affection from their parents will draw them back from succeeding in their learning
process (Gündoğmuş, 2018). This is due to little guidance, motivation, and support from
their parents.
Besides, lack of professional experience is another challenge faced by the lecturers
(Gündoğmuş, 2018). Having a lack of professional experience might lead to stress and
tension to teach high school students especially among novice lecturers. The multiple roles
of lecturers are also a challenge. Lecturers’ experience depends on the level of their
previous experience and training. It takes time for novice lecturers to adapt themselves to
their students very well. Lecturers can only prepare appropriate activities if they know well
about their student's proficiency level, and interests. Not only that, longer time is needed
for lecturers to prepare new teaching materials, appropriate lesson plans, suitable activities,
and provide comments or reflections.
Finally, Anyiendah (2017) argues that lack of students’ interest is another challenge.
Students feel a lack of interest in writing because they need to know many aspects in order


10

to produce a good piece of work. The students need to know punctuations, grammar,
vocabulary, spelling, and sentence structure in order to write a good piece of writing.
2.3.

The solutions to improve of writing

2.3.1. The solutions to improve by the students in learning writing skills
The writing skill of students can be enhanced by encouraging their interest,
motivation and enjoyment in learning, through technology (Graham & Perin, 2007).
Likewise, certain metacognitive, cognitive, and socio - affective approaches may also be
used to allow student to know the writing process and to practice it (O’Malley &

Chamot,1990). Hedge (2005) claims that good writing goes beyond creating simple and
accurate sentences, because learners need to be guided in the most effective and innovative
way to write and communicate their thoughts. English is considered the language of
international communication and is very helpful in learning writing skills well. So, if you
want to improve your English skills, you must follow certain steps when learning English.
First, vocabulary, without words, you cannot do anything. To memorize many words and
learn new words every day is important. However, it will be very boring and difficult if you
spend a lot of time memorizing each word. Learning words through reading manga or
novels is always an effective way. Second, have a good grammar. You need good enough
grammar to organize sentences and express them correctly. You need to practice writing
sentences with many different grammatical forms. Write and write with simple sentences.
Write every day. Finally, it is important to learn how to pronounce English clearly,
otherwise it may be difficult for others to understand you when you speak. You should
speak more English every day and pay attention to how your English teacher speaks. Listen
and sing your favorite English songs. To learn English well is not easy, encounter many
difficulties in the learning process. If done this way, you can develop your English skills
and gain more confidence in communicating with oth
2.3.2. The solutions to improve by the lecturers in learning writing skills
On the teacher's side, it is necessary to raise the awareness of learning from colleagues
to constantly innovate the teaching method of writing skills, the skills considered to be the
most difficult. Lecturers need to cooperate, share experiences with colleagues to find the
optimal teaching method applied to lessons. In addition to the variety of methods, lecturers


11

help students overcome their fear of a blank page by starting off lessons with an activity that
helps them generate language and ideas for their writing. This is a top-down strategy that
will allow them to activate prior knowledge and personal experiences that relate to the topic.
Hedge (1999) assumed that writing is essentially a creative process which involves

students in a learning process motivates, builds their confidence, gives them an opportunity
to explore the language, communicate, and look for the best ways of self-expression. The
teacher’s role in this process is undoubtedly very important: The teacher’s role is to provide
an environment in which students will learn about writing, see models of good writing, get
plenty of practice in writing, and receive help during the writing process.
Furthermore, lecturers should adapt their pedagogical methods and develop activities
that could inspire and empower students by allowing them the ability to select topics of
interest to each other. It will probably reshape their writing habits through prolonged
practice, and physical and cognitive skills that offer the writer power over the presentation
of linguistic and domain-specific information. In addition, language and content lecturers
may find it easy to track their students from a specific perspective. To encourage their
expressive ability, lecturers may use techniques to get feedback from students to be put down
a piece of paper. Perhaps notably, attitudes towards writing and discussing the problems
need to be improved. In addition, immediate and critical feedback on their performance is
required to increase their confidence.
On the other hand, stress the importance of clear, thoughtful writing. Faculty who tell
students that good writing will be rewarded and poor writing will be penalized receive better
essays than instructors who don't make such demands. In the syllabus, on the first day, and
throughout the term, remind students that they must make their best effort in expressing
themselves on paper. Back up your statements with comments on early assignments that
show you really mean it, and your students will respond. Besides, lecturers regularly assign
brief writing exercises in your classes. To vary the pace of a lecturer’s course, ask students
to write a few minutes during class. Some mixture of in-class writing, outside writing
assignments, and exams with open-ended questions will give students the practice they need
to improve their skills.
2.3.3.

Conclusion:

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Writing is a crucial skill that will benefit the rest of the students’ lives. It can be
concluded that school students are facing many challenges to learn writing skills and it is
not easy for English to teach them writing skills. The existing literature has identified
demands on writing skills in English, purpose of students’ writing by using various writing
strategies, challenges faced by both the students and lecturers in learning and teaching
writing skills and past studies on the challenges faced by students and lecturers to learn and
teach writing skills among students. By understanding both the students’ and lecturers’
challenges in learning and teaching writing skills, the lecturers could choose the best
possible approach to teach writing skills by giving feedback and guidance. This review of
the literature indicated the factors that caused some serious problems for lecturers listening
comprehension and also offered some useful suggestions for lecturers and students to
improve their listening comprehension ability. It is hoped that the findings of this study
contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning in listening comprehension.
2.4.

Summary:
In this chapter, research shows the theory of difficulty first-year English major

students’ learning writing skills. Moreover, it also points out the theory of solutions to
improve their writing skills. To make clear the details of these difficulties and solutions, the
research introduces the next part as analyzing the study base on data.


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CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY

3.1. Methodology

To collect the data for research, the researcher used quantitative methods including
questionnaire questions for students and lecturers. Questionnaires were designed based on
the main aims of the study. After getting the results, the researcher used tables and charts
for presenting the collected data.
3.2. Survey questionnaires:
Survey questionnaires are always considered as one of the most frequently used and
effective methods for studying. This is the reason why the researcher decided to choose
questionnaires as one of the main types of instruments are used to accomplish the research.
Besides, the survey questionnaires are mainly to collect information from the subject of this
study. However, it is easy and simple to summarize and report collected data while the
researcher did not spend much time on it.
There are two different questionnaires designed to survey the subjects of this study.
The first is for students and the second one is for lecturers. Firstly, the questionnaires for
students were delivered to 83 students of K18 at UTEHY. Survey questionnaires are
including 12 questions and it consists of students’ information, factors, and solutions in
writing skills. Secondly, survey questionnaires for lecturers include 11 questions and it
consists of lecturer’s evaluation of their information, factors, and solutions in learning the
writing skill, and they also give their suggestions about it for students.
3.3.

Data collection:

The participants of the study include 5 lecturers and 83 students from FFL at UTEHY.
These 83 first-years English major students are collected from K18 and 5 lecturers who have
been teaching writing skills are invited to join the research.
3.3.1.

Data collection from students:

Because of the limited time and Covid-19 pandemic, the graduation paper was

surveyed online to implement the study with all major students of English majors at UTEHY.
Therefore, the data collection in the study derived from students who are in the first-year at


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FFL. Most of the 83 students have learned English for at least eight years at secondary and
high schools. The students are between 18 and 20 years old, both males and females make
up for the majority in the target population.
3.3.2.

Data collection from lecturers:

The second data is composed of 5 English lecturers, who have taught writing skills for
the first-year English major students at FFL, UTEHY. All of them have MA degrees and
PhD. This is one of many advantages for English major students at UTEHY. Furthermore,
the reason for choosing 5 lecturers is that they have experience in teaching English major
students, especially, teaching writing skills for first-year English major students.
3.4.

Data analysis and discussion:

3.4.1. Attitude towards of writing skills

Chart 3.1. Student’s opinion about the importance of writing skills
When asked about the importance of writing skills, most students said that this subject
is essential. In this chart, fifty-seven students (69%) think that writing is very important, 24
students (29%) think writing is important, and two students (2%) think it is slightly
important. That means most first-year student’s English majors at UTEHY believe that
writing skills play a very important role in learning English and in further study. And the

chart below is some of the teacher's opinions and attitudes about writing skills.


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Chart 3.2. Lecturer’s opinion about the importance of writing skills
The value of writing skills is depicted in chart 3.2 by the opinions of English lecturers
at UTEHY. Just one lecturers (20%) believes that writing is important, while four lecturers
(80%) believe that writing is very important. There are no lecturers who believe that writing
ability is natural, unimportant, or insignificant.
According to the chart and table above, first-year English majors and FFL students
agree that writing is a valuable or necessary ability not only in school but also in potential
jobs. In fact, as compared to other skills like listening, speaking, and reading, most children
are uninterested in this one. They also understand that strong English writing skills will assist
them in improving their grammar and vocabulary. Every student has attempted to take
advantage of their English writing abilities.