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Factors Affecting Students Writing Skill PDF
Factors Affecting Students Writing Skill PDF
December 2015
Table of Content
Page
Abstract i
Chapter 1
1.0 Introduction 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
5.3 Instruments 19
5.4 Intervention 21
5.5.1 Set 1 22
5.5.2 Set 2 22
5.5.3 Set 3 22
5.5.4 Set 4 22
5.6 Summary 23
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
8.0 Conclusion 43
References
Appendix
Abstract
This research was conducted to identify and investigate the factors affecting students
writing skills in primary school. The target population was year four students from a primary
school in Gombak Selangor namely Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Pelong. The research will be
employed based on appropriate data collection from an interviews with teachers and students and
data analysis result from students’ questionnaires. There are endless possibilities for appropriate
solution to improve writing and it is impossible to investigate every single one there is in a
research action however researcher has selected appropriate methods to elaborate the various
factors affecting students’ writing skills and to shows that the intensity of all parties were related
to each other’s. Writing skills are indispensable in lifelong learning, without proper writing skills
from primary level soon students will encounter problems when pursuing higher education.
Researcher acknowledged that it was evidently true that learning writing skill poses a number of
problems to the students, as it is a skill that is difficult to master; teachers too faces great
challenge to teach writing skills as students may sometimes find it confusing and difficult to
understand or failed to produce effective writing in English. The findings of the study revealed
that there are a number of factors that contribute to poor writing skills among students and
consequently, these factors affect the quality of student writing and the issues need to be
1.0 Introduction
The study of language learning and how one is successful at the task of obtaining
excellent in English writing is the question many have posed. This research, which researcher
proposing to accomplish, is to look into the problem occurs in English writing skills and try to
discover its factors affect(s) if any on the year five primary school students. According to
research alike, there is suggestion that the learners self-efficacy attributes to their success rate
(Chularut & De Backer, 2004; Bandura, 1996). Bandura suggested that this could be true in any
academic setting (Bandura, 1996) therefore researcher seek to discover the obstacles of the
students experiences and factors affected students in writing skills. To define self-efficacy,
individual’s typical character” and Efficacy is “the power to produce an effect”. Therefore, a
Grabe and Kaplan (1996) wrote that “probably half of the world’s population does not
know how to write adequately and effectively". Writing and learning to write has always been
one of the most complex language skills. Nunan (1989) agreed that "it is easier to learn to speak
than to write no matter if it is a first or second language”. It is not a very easy task to achieve
since it requires hard work, lengthy steps, enough time, and more practice. Of course, this order
may change depending on the needs of the learners. It is obvious that mastering English as a
second language in KBSR requires mastering the writing skills. None of teachers and students
would ignore the importance of writing skills and agree that it is the most complex and difficult
skill to master. Richards and Renandya (2003) argued that “there is no doubt that writing is the
There is a common agreement that writing is the most complex and difficult skill for it
requires a lot of training. Like all learning problems, difficulties in producing a good piece of
writing can be devastating to the learners' education, self-esteem, self-confidence, and motivation
to write. Many researchers (Harmer 2007, Nunan 1989, Tribble 1997, Richards & Renandya,
2003) agreed that writing is the most complex and difficult skill. This difficulty lays not only in
generating and organizing ideas, but also in translating these ideas into readable text
Hence this research will determine the factors affecting students writing skills and what
hinders students to writing correctly especially among year five students. Among an endless
number of factors, researcher will try to sketch a general picture of the factors affecting behind
the students' lack of writing skill and the causes of it. And since the teaching/learning process
cannot take place only with the presence of the teacher and the learner, this research will be
entirely devoted to speak about the influence of teachers and students capabilities that will affect
the students writing skill. Results and discussions of some important issues that concern the
teacher's approaches, methods and techniques in teaching writing will be interviewed to the
There are many factors affecting students’ capabilities in writing skills. Since writing is
such prominent part of the English language, the teacher is obliged to possess knowledge of how
to improve students’ proficiencies in an efficient way. The question is how to use this knowledge
when the teacher is supposed to compose different methods for lessons, evaluate the exercises
and give proper feedback to the students. Raimes (1994) agreed that there is no one answers to
the question of how to teach writing in English classes. This may be due to the fact that writing is
a process of exploring one’s thought and learning from the act of writing itself. Figure 1 displays
This research is based on various literary sources, interviews with teachers, students,
questionnaires with students and the background information is the basis for the interview
questions and the questionnaire. There are endless possibilities for appropriate solution to
improve writing and it is impossible to investigate every single one there is in a research action
report. Researcher however has selected the appropriate methods, which will be described in this
research. In order to evaluate factors affecting students writing skill, the researcher needs to be
prepared and know what to focus on the study as it is in progress. Therefore the research is made
up to determine the factors affecting students writing skill with emphasis on the following issues:
skills.
2. To identify the problem faced by the English teachers in improving students writing
skills.
3. To identify the needs and solution in overcome the negative factors affecting writing
skills.
The session used qualitative approach to enable the researchers to reinforce the argument
for finding and to understand the reasons of the weakness in writing. Essentially, this method
consists of flexible strategies for focusing and expediting qualitative data collection and analysis.
Material from the interview results are intended to reinforce finding on factors affecting students
writing skills. Following are the questions raised during the interview session:
3) Are you satisfied with the learning process conducted by your English teacher?
Questionnaires or social surveys are used as a method to collect standardized data from
the whole class of 4 Amanah. When data has been quantified, it can be used to compare and
contrast other data collected and may be used to convince the findings in factors affecting
student performance. Researcher applies questionnaires method because the results of the
questionnaires can usually be quickly and easily quantified. Large amounts of information can be
collected from a large number of people in a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective
way.
CHAPTER 2
The main objective of this study was to investigate the factors affecting students writing
skill. In many cases, the hardest thing for a student concerning writing is to get started with the
entire writing process. According to Cowley (2004), there are different reasons why students
have trouble with this. One reason could be that the students are afraid of failing and that they
are under pressure to perform. Teachers should persuade and encourage their students to not
giving up and increase knowledge through reading. Cowley (2004) mentions warm-up exercises,
rewards and challenges for the students to increase their motivation. The process of collecting
information and coming up with ideas is not easy for everyone. In her book, Cowley (2004) did
mention that the teacher should give students inspiration and create an atmosphere for writing. In
order to create an atmosphere Cowley (2004) claims that certain students work best when they
are listening to music and they should be allowed to have a Walkman while writing. Dramatic
sounds like wind or maybe owls howling could be a good inspiration if the students are supposed
Making mind maps and brainstorming are recommended to spark students’ ideas where
the students gain information by discussing in groups. White and Arndt write that both the
teacher and the students have important roles in this session. According to White and Arndt,
crucial that the teacher goes through all these ideas with the students before the writing starts so
that everyone understands what the ideas mean. After these sessions the students’ minds filled
with ideas and the process of writing will be much easier (R. White, V. Arndt, 1991).Writing is
an ongoing process, improving upon the writing includes a number of different aspects to be
taken care of so as to have a cohesive structure in writing, while keeping the content engaging
and interesting. This research will determine the factors affecting students writing skills and what
In general, this study has the objective to determine factors affecting students writing skills.
One of the factors is self-efficacy which is commonly defined as the belief in one's capabilities to
achieve a goal or an outcome. Students with a strong sense of efficacy are more likely to
challenge themselves with difficult tasks and be intrinsically motivated. These students will put
forth a high degree of effort in order to meet their commitments, and attribute failure to things
which are in their control, rather than blaming external factors. Self-efficacious students also
recover quickly from setbacks, and ultimately are likely to achieve their personal goals. Students
with low self-efficacy, on the other hand, believe they cannot be successful and thus are less
likely to make a concerted, extended effort and may consider challenging tasks as threats that are
to be avoided. Thus, students with poor self-efficacy have low aspirations which may result in
Besides that, teachers too face great challenge to teach these skills and conventions as
students may at times find them confusing and difficult to understand and write effective writing
in English. Writing therefore is not just putting pen to paper or writing down ideas but it is how
these ideas are presented or expressed effectively. This highly demanding process of writing
requires a number of skills and steps in development of ideas and information, accuracy in
choosing the right words are very important so that there is no ambiguity of meaning and also the
right use of complex grammatical devices to focus and emphasis ideas. There are more factors
that contribute to affecting students’ capability to produce good writing skills. In term of to
strengthen the statement, below are the research objectives that researcher require to obtain;
Students with a strong back ground of spoken and written are more likely to challenge
themselves with difficult tasks and be intrinsically motivated with any writing task. These
students will put forth a high degree of effort in order to meet their commitments, and attribute
failure to things which are in their control, rather than blaming external factors. Self-motivated
students also recover quickly from setbacks, and ultimately are likely to achieve their personal
goals. Students who are not skilled in writing, on the other hand, believe they cannot be
successful and thus are less likely to make a concerted, extended effort and may consider
challenging tasks as threats that are to be avoided. Thus, students with poor self-efficacy have
low aspirations which may result in disappointing academic performances becoming part of a
self-fulfilling feedback cycle. (Margolis & McCabe, 2006). There are many factors affecting
students weakness in writing skills and to prove the statement I intend to run an interviews and
1. What are the causes that affected students’ capability in English writing skill?
The results of this study will provide important information to teachers and school
administration that the English teachers of SK Sungai Pelongs’ need to focus hard on three areas
which is teaching and learning strategies: improving teaching strategies create more fun in
learning writing and use assessment in writing skills to improve students’ skill. Second area is
leadership in writing: creating the structures and supports in schools that enable students to
participate in English writing activities other than class learning (as an example, organize an
essay competition etc.) and third area is Continuing professional development: engaging all
English teachers in writing skills courses and purposeful collaboration (to create a community of
learners and indirectly will channel teachers writing knowledge to students). These three areas
are importance to this study, which tracks the journey of this action research to set aims of
evaluating outcomes.
CHAPTER 3
Most researchers will be conducting on ways to assess self-efficacy and its relation to
achievement outcomes. The proliferation of efficacy research in recent years adds to our
understanding but also results in a multitude of measures that often seem conceptually unrelated,
It is proved that researchers need to show how their measure taps self-efficacy and not such other
related constructs as attributions, locus of control, interest, or satisfaction. I noted earlier that
self-efficacy often is equated with outcome expectancy in the literature. The two constructs
typically are related but must be kept distinct since a student may expect positive outcomes for a
stellar performance but may doubt his or her capabilities to perform at that level. Investigators
also should report reliability data and include instruments in articles (Pintrich & De Groot,
1990).
There is a need for longitudinal studies and alternative forms of data collection, although such
studies might include fewer subjects, they would gain rich data. Much research has related self-
This type of research has advantages and typically obtains valid data (Assor & Connell, 1992),
but it does not take into account the intricacies of teaching and learning. There is a need for
research with teachers and coaches as they teach skills. We need more research examining how
motivation and performance relate to self-efficacy. Bandura (1986) postulates that self-efficacy
influences choice of activities, effort, and persistence. These effects are seen most clearly when
behavior reflects performance of previously learned skills. In learning settings, the influence of
self-efficacy on these indexes is complex. Choice may not be a good index because students
usually do not choose to participate in learning activities. Choice is meaningful only when
individuals have options. There also are problems with persistence. Bandura (1986) predicted
that persistence will increase as self-efficacy develops. This prediction was supported in early
clinical research; for example, phobic persons judge self-efficacy low and do not persist at
threatening activities but their persistence increases as they participate in feared situations and
gain confidence.
In learning situations, however, students persist in part because teachers and coaches
keep them working. Self-efficacy is a poor predictor of persistence when students do not have
the choice to work on a task. As skills develop, higher self-efficacy may relate negatively, rather
than positively, to persistence, because students with higher self-efficacy are likely to be skillful
and may not have to persist very long to perform well. Better indexes of motivation may be
effort and use of effective strategies. Cognitive effort may need to be assessed with a self-report
instrument, but much evidence shows that self-report of personal experiences and beliefs
generally are reliable and valid predictors of performance (Assor & Connell, 1992). Students
with high self-efficacy are likely to be motivated to engage in activities they believe will assist
them, such as paying attention, concentrating on models, organizing and rehearsing in-formation
to be remembered, practicing behaviors and monitoring performance, and relating new to prior
learning.
3.1 Theoretical Approach
Both the concept of writing self-efficacy and motivation are rooted in social-cognitive
perception of his or her ability to achieve in a given area (Bandura, 1986). Another aspect of
motivation is linked to their ability to self-regulate their learning activities. Eccles & Wigfield
active in one’s own learning processes and in achieving one’s own goals. This framework
assumes motivation and learning strategies are not static traits of a learner, but that “motivation
is dynamic and contextually bound and that learning strategies can be learned and brought under
the control of the student” (Duncan & McKeachie, 2005)Students’ motivations change from
course to course, depending on their interest in the course, efficacy for performing tasks in the
course, and other social and environmental factors. Their learning strategies may vary as well,
In social cognitive theory, individuals: Are proactive and self-regulating rather than
reactive and controlled by biological or environmental forces, are understood to hold self-beliefs
that allow them to employ a measure of control over their thoughts, feelings, and actions; and
display behaviors, motivations, and capabilities which are critical elements (Pajares, 2003). A
social cognitive perspective of student learning suggests that each student engages in learning in
his/her own way. Students engage in tasks and learning based on the motivation they feel
towards a specific subject. For example, a student taking an English language class as part of
their major, likely has different motivations than someone who is taking the class as an elective
and who only has a casual interest in the content. The context of a class, as it relates to each
According to the experiences of some foreign languages learners, most difficulties are
found in the written skills, thus the main purpose of the study conducted by Lenny Johana
Alvarado Rico (2014), the study focused on analyzing the factors that affected English as a
foreign language (EFL) learners’ performance when working on writing or speaking activities.
This study conducted in hoping to help EFL teachers understands why most of their students face
difficulties throughout their learning process and to identify the factors causing those problems.
Furthermore, Quintero’s (2008) study pointed out that problems with grammar,
punctuation, lexical choice and the like have a negative impact on the content and the general
understanding of a text. In addition, this study indicated that writing was a complicated skill to
develop since it implied the use of mental processes rather than only using the structures of the
language. For instance, the author established that those difficulties could be solved by
motivating the students, by giving them the opportunity to write about the topics of their
particular interest, and also by giving them the appropriate feedback of their work. in her study
that previous studies have addressed several aspects of factors affecting writing or speaking.
In Jaramillo and Medina’s (2011) study, the written skill is perceived as an art in which
willingness and motivation are important. Furthermore, it is necessary to explain that there are
many learners who need to express their ideas in a second language but they find themselves
without the linguistic resources to carry it out, (Gass and Selinker, 1994). This means that they
are not acquiring knowledge correctly because they can’t write well in English.
With regards to writing skills, Jaramillo and Medina (2011) focused their action research
on the development of writing short descriptive texts in English. The results confirmed that most
of the difficulties students had were related to the construction of sentences, grammatical errors
and difficulties in reading comprehension. The researchers understood that learners performed
better in writing tasks when they had a clear idea about the topic they were focusing on. In
addition, investigators suggested that the best way to improve writing skills was through
practice. In addition, Larios et al. (2008) conducted a study in which the foreign language
(English) writer’s strategic allocation of time to writing processes was analyzed. They found that
the process of writing formulation took up the largest percentage of composition time for
participants, and also that writing processes were differentially distributed depending on the
At first researcher planned to conduct a study on year 5 students but due to final exam
season and as advised by the schools administration, the study continues with year 4 students. To
overcome this last minute changes, researcher look on the bright side and adapted the action
research appropriately with the amendments. There are no alterations to the problem statements,
research question and research objectives however the data used for analysis are now referred to
year 4 Amanah’s. The study used self-administered questionnaires, interviews and document
analysis of 4 Amanah’s English assessment result. Quantitative and qualitative methods are used
to analyze data with both inferential and descriptive analysis being employed. The findings of
the study will be presented in accordance with the variables and themes of the research
statement.
and live in Bangi while the studied school was located at Sungai Buloh. The time for carrying
out the study is limited as researcher was involved in other professional and personal
commitments. To overcome this, researcher had maximized on any available time for the
research project and asked some helps from colleagues who work at the studied school.
To overcome this limitation, researcher had done several parts of data collection while
managed to interviews 2 English teachers earlier in the month of June 2015, distributed
questionnaire before school holidays started and interviews 10 students during the month of
October 2015.
CHAPTER 5
The study took the form of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Researcher
collected the appropriate data from the relevant source to develop graph and charts, and analysis
in different ways of collecting data for this project. Different methodologies were used during
distinct phases of the survey, such as questionnaire and face to face interviews. The target
population was one primary school in Gombak district. A total of 5 female and 5 male students
were picked for interviews, an interviewed with 2 English teachers and 33 respondents from year
Target of participants were primary school students and teachers. Students are the most
important target to gain result for this research. The most important finding to be expected is the
factors affecting students’ writing skills and the causes of the possibilities which will derive from
Selangor. There are 8 classes of year 4 and researcher chose year 4 Amanah because the result of
the examination shows average results among 33 students year 4 Amanah. Only 1 student score
band 4 for writing and others are within performance level 1,2 and 3. The Kurikulum Standard
Sekolah Rendah provide Standard Curriculum and Assessment Documents which describe
performance standards details in six levels of performance with descriptions for each level based
development and growth in the acquisition of the learning standards that are taught.
Questionnaires were given to 33 students to collect students’ view and will be employed
in inferential and descriptive analysis. It was given to the experimental group only. This form
contains 9 questions regarding writing skill in the teaching and learning process.
English assessment results will be used as the benchmark for the level of students'
performance in writing. The assessment result will be used to determined students level of
writing. Data analysis will be obtained from SPS online (Sistem Pengurusan Sekolah). There is
only 1 student achieved band 4, the rest of the class scored band 1, 2 and 3 and according to the
English teachers, it is very disappointing that no one ever gets band 5 or 6. Please refer to figure
2 for the data of the results. Figure 2 shows that only 1 from 33 students score band 4, Figure 2
Figure 3: Part of the results obtained from the English assessment data analysis,
captured from SPS online.
5.3.3 Interviews with Students and Teachers
This session used qualitative approach to enable the researchers to understand the reasons
of the weakness of writing. It is assumed that through an interview, the students’ perceptions of
writing difficulties would not be misled by the ready-revealed survey instruments, which cannot
provide in-depth details about students’ perspectives of the factors affecting students writing
skills. It utilized semi-structured interviews in a face-to face interaction to explore the students’
beliefs and thoughts about certain topics; this is in line with Lynch’s (1996) view that, the use of
semi-structured interviews enhances the understanding of the data and makes the data collection
more systematic as compared to the informal conversational approach. Students were invited to
talk about the factors affecting their writing skills in a face-to-face interview of 15 minutes for
each sample. The students were supposed to feel free and talk about anything they perceived that
might cause their weakness of writing. The participants in this study were randomly picked of 5
male students and 5 female students of year 4Amanah. Students name are not mention in order to
5.4 Intervention
Researcher has done several parts of data collection while doing practicum at Sekolah
teachers earlier in the month of June 2015, distributed questionnaire before school holidays
To obtain the findings, sets of data collections will be distribute to conduct the research.
The study will make use of both quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis as well as
descriptive and inferential analysis. Following methods will be used to elaborate the findings:
Quantitative data collection of structured instruments of English assessment result that shows
diversity in results that is easy to be summarized and to compare students’ capabilities in writing.
Conduct face to face interviews to the teachers and students in order to obtain distinct advantage
in enabling good rapport with potential participants and gain their cooperation. This session also
allow the researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and when appropriate, seek follow up
information.
Distributes paper pencil questionnaires to the students of 4 Amanah. The questionnaires contains
understand the findings behind observation results and assess causes in students’ perceptions of
factor affecting their writing skills. Questionnaires conducted will help to clarify quantitative
evaluation findings.
5.6 Data Analysis
The process of data analysis was made after students have completed answering the
questionnaire and completed interviews session. The data obtained will be collected and
analyzed using descriptive statistics frequencies, percentages and inferential analysis of English
assessment results from SPS online (Sistem Pengurusan Sekolah). This method can accelerate
For teachers’ interview session, teachers were invited to talk about the reasons behind their
minutes for each sample. The teachers were supposed to feel free and talk about anything they
perceived that might cause their students’ weakness in writing. Few standardize answers will be
ask to both teachers and the comparison of their views will be discuss to identify problems
occurs in developing students’ writing skill factors that hinder students’ writing skills.
5.7 Summary
This research is conducted to prove that there are various factors affecting students'
performance in writing skills. It is obviously shows that the intensity of all parties related to each
improve their writing skills. When students gain confidence in writing skills, they continue to set
even more challenging goals and this will contribute to upgrade the students’ examination
percentage in English writing This can lead to better performance in schools’ examination results
in terms of higher grades in writing and other challenging task. Teachers’ perseverance also can
affect how well a student performs in school. School administrator should encourage teachers
and parents to take more active role in the learning process. These connection shows that
students and teachers should work together to increase the confidence and indirectly motivate
To discuss further of this study researcher decide to elaborate and analysis 4 questions
1) Indicate which of the following four skills is the most difficult one?
Indicate which of the following four skills is the most difficult one?
Writing is a complex intellectual task involving many component skills, some students
may lack completely, some of which they may have only partially mastered. Writing skills,
including writing mechanics such as grammar, sentence structure, spelling, planning a writing
argument effectively, marshaling evidence and using sources appropriately and organizing ideas
effectively.
Students Questionaire 1
Listening Speaking Reading Writing
4.95
3.3
1.65
0.99
Diagram 6.1
This item meant to know which of the four skills is the most difficult for the students to
master. 4.95 percent students indicate that writing is the most difficult skill of all. The second
difficult is speaking skill which shows that 3.3 students agree that speaking is the second stage of
difficulties in learning English Language skills. The third is reading and fourth is listening.
When students lack skills in these areas, their writing may be unsatisfactory in multiple
way. Complicating matters is the fact that many students’ reading skills are also poor. For
example, if they cannot recognize the main point of an argument in their reading, they obviously
cannot respond to this point in their writing. These issues show that factors of student weakness
in writing has to do with mastering other English Language skills. Students need to master all
As quoted “Practice makes perfect”, by keep doing and practicing certain skills
repeatedly students will upgrade their skills and positive persuasive will raises efficacy. High
efficacy will not produce competent performances when requisite skills and knowledge are
Students Questionaire 2
Not at all
11%
Sometimes
25%
Everyday
64%
Diagram 6.2
As a result from the questionnaire given, 64% declared that they did practice writing
daily while 25 % practice sometimes and 11% did not practice at all. Compared with students
who doubt with their writing capabilities and did not practice their writing skill, those who feel
efficacious in learning writing or performing a task given will participate more readily to
improve their writing, work harder, persist longer when encounter difficulties and achieve at a
higher level.
6.1.3 Students Questionnaire 3:
Learning to write is uniquely challenging. Writing requires the mastery and concurrent
use of a complex array of language skills, from vocabulary and spelling to the ability to organize
Students Questionaire 3
3.2
Yes
No
96.9
Diagram 6.3
96.9 % 4 Amanah students agree that they found difficulties when writing English
meanwhile 3.2 % found that writing English is not difficult. From this data collection researcher
believes that teachers should keep an eye out for repetitious errors and habits, such as incorrect
grammar and spelling, poorly structured essays, and unsupported ideas. Writing is hard work and
can be a chore, but excessive complaining and procrastination from English teacher may indicate
If not addressed, eventually writing problems can lead to problems in other subjects and
affect overall academic success. Although writing is an essential skill, many students at primary
schools are not interested in it. According to Robert Todd Caroll (1990), many students were
never required to learn proper spelling or grammar. These poor students come to think that
“English” and “writing” are nothing but spelling and grammar. To them, writing means
inevitable failure. Good writing is sometimes they believe they will never be able to achieve..
They are even not aware of the importance of writing skill in their learning. They often get low
marks when doing the tests on writing skill and it affect their learning’s result. In fact, students
often have many basic mistakes in written works about spelling, grammar, punctuation and
organization.
6.1.4 Students’ Questionnaire 4:
achievement. Accordingly, Harmer (2006) stressed this point and claimed that people involved in
language teaching often say that students who really want to learn will succeed whatever
circumstances in which they study. They succeed despite using methods which experts consider
unsatisfactory. In the phase of such a phenomenon, it seems reasonable to suggest that the
motivation that students bring to class is the biggest simple factor affecting their success”
(Harmer, 2006).
Students Questionaire 4
Diagram 6.4
As stated in the data analysis that lack of motivation in writing was the highest voted
among other factors. This means clearly that motivation is strongly related to achievement, and
learners’ motivation makes the mission easier and more pleasant for both teachers and learners.
In this case, motivation makes writing pleasant and enjoyable. Harmer (2006) mention that, there
are many hidden forces which demotivate students to achieve certain writing level. Fear of
failure which means the fear of not achieving goals in the context of competence or efficacy. It is
also closely related to the fear of rejection. The source of this fear of failure among the majority
of our students is that they are afraid of making mistakes. They feel weak and never recover the
6.2 Discussion
Following are the questions raised during the interview session with students:
3) Do you satisfied with the learning process conducted by your English teacher?
Most of the students didn’t get higher banned in the writing task because of several
reasons. Students declared that their weakness of writing because of grammatical errors, lack of
knowledge and understanding, less practice of writing in English, and lack of self-motivations. It
is mentioned by all the interviewees in this study that they are unable to write a short paragraph,
article, or passage without a lot of grammatical mistakes. Some students said that they cannot
express their ideas in the context, while others said they do not know how to write even single
sentences. These problems make the students feel anxiety to write because they are looking for
Some student said that sometimes they can write a sentence without grammatical
mistakes, but the problem is how to gather these sentences in a paragraph form. Other student
declared that making mistakes in grammar is a big issue. Most of the time they claimed they are
not using the suitable tense in the correct situations, maybe because they do not understand the
tenses in the context. Some of them confessed that he/she cannot write even a single sentence.
Another student talked about why he cannot write even a single sentence. He referred his
problem of writing to the mistakes that he always make. He said, “Sometimes cannot
differentiate tenses. I did a lot of mistake and repeat the same mistakes. In that case, I feel upset
While others claimed that too many mistakes make their writing loses marks. Their
teachers are not satisfy with what they have written because a lot of grammatical mistakes. One
student said, ”I try to write in class, but I always get in mistakes even with the same mistakes
Some students misunderstanding the requirement of writing because they do not know
the process of writing. They do not know how to write a main topic and a theme. One student
said, “I don’t understand what the topic wants from me”. Another student have declared that he
feel struggling when he write in English even for simple topics. He said that, ”My teacher gives
us a simple topic such as writing a short paragraph about myself. But I can’t write it because I
don’t have vocabularies”. Another student said that expressing ideas in the topic is very difficult
because it is a part of process of writing that he missed it. He said that “First, I am not interested
in the topics that teacher asked us to write. Then, I feel upset and cannot concentrate to express
my ideas clearly. This problem makes me lost focus on what I am doing and I felt that I am so
weak in writing”.
Almost most of the students have mentioned that they never write other than in the
classroom even for homework. Of all interviewed students, 100% of them are in lack of practice
writing on their free time. They were completely relying on writing in the classroom but they did
not blame or mention any dissatisfied with the learning process conducted by their English
teacher. One student said, “I hate writing. I don’t like to write at all. That’s why I never practice
writing other than in the classroom”. Another student declared that English is the most difficult
subject. He said that “I hate English, so I don’t want to learn it. I believe I can’t improve my
writing. So, I don’t practice writing in English”. One more student said that, “As for me, I don’t
like writing, I think my teacher has done her best to teach me writing but practicing more on
writing will not improve my marks because I will not do it in the right way, writing is very
Following are the questions raised during the interview session with teachers:
1) Do you have any particular methods to create a specific atmosphere for writing sessions in
2) Do you recognize each of your students’ weakness in writing? Do you help them?
3) Many students have problems in writing. How do you work on that issue?
Researcher has interviewed two English teachers from the school. Teacher A is female,
has worked as a teacher for several years and teaches English as her major subject. Teacher B is
also female, has worked as a teacher for more than 10 years and teaches English as her major
subject too. They were both colleagues and they teaches English at level 2 (year 4, 5 and 6).
Interview was held to prove that there are various factors affecting students' performance in
writing skills and to shows that the intensity of all parties were related to each other’s. Teachers
Do you have any particular methods to create a specific atmosphere for writing sessions in
Teacher A says that she does not have any particular methods for writing sessions but
that she does have methods to attract students by previewing examples of writings that similar to
the topic she will assign to her students, she said “I believed this method are the best way to
trained my students to improve their writing, they will learn to construct sentences by imitating”.
Teacher B mentions that her students were quiet during the writing sessions and sometimes she
tries to create a specific atmosphere. She said, “As an example, if they are supposed to write a
story of experiences I will reads a short story before the session begins. Through this method
indirectly students will get the idea on how to build sentences and thus producing an essay”. Just
like Teacher A, they were both giving their best to instill good writing skills.
Teacher Interview Question 2:
Do you recognize each of your students’ weakness in writing? Do you help them?
Teacher A explains that she tries to remember the students’ previous results referring to
the SPS results, but that it could be difficult since there are so many of them. She claims that
everybody, more or less, has problems with verbs and tenses and to improve the weaknesses she
will do the training emphasizes during other English Skills session, such as teaching more on
tense in speaking session so that could be a good way to see if they have developed. To
overcome the students’ weakness in writing, Teacher B evaluates her writing lesson differently
from Teacher A. She discusses with her students whether they feel that the current exercise is
rewarding for them or not. She also tries to see if they have been able to stick to the topic or if it
is too narrow. Teacher B will go through the difficult part that claimed by her students and she
will ask the students to write the same topics until her students show some definite development.
These two teachers however, have shown good effort in providing the best education to their
students.
Many students have problems getting started to write. How do you work on that issue?
Teacher A said she usually gives them an opening sentence and the students are supposed
to continue from that. They can choose from different beginnings. She also mentions two other
methods which are writing a different ending or a continuation of a story. Teacher B also uses
opening sentences when she teaches students from the year 4 students. However, she uses
brainstorming and they all develop a beginning by discussing different ideas. Teacher A brings
up methods that are not described in the background, such as opening sentences or different
endings which are creative methods. Teacher B once again uses brainstorming, which involves
the students. None of them talks about the students’ possible fear of making mistakes and how
they face that issue, at least not concerning writing exercises. They were both showing positive
attitude and have faith that the student will perform well in writing skill if they keep on giving
exercises to the students. Bandura (1986) predicted that persistence will increase as self-efficacy
develops. In learning situations, students’ self-efficacy will persist in certain part because
teachers keep them working by providing exercises to improve their writing skill.
They added that students’ difficulties in writing have their roots in their background
education (in preschool or low level), the home, and of course incompetent previous English
teacher. However, teacher A claims that these factors are mainly due to the teacher and the
learner. Teacher B mentions that students are strongly related to their mother tongue which
hinders the learning of the target language especially writing. This means that L1 can be another
This research can summarize that the basic requirements needed to help improve the
writing skill and must be taken into consideration by all teachers and adults. Firstly, the English
teachers should be well trained and equip themselves with English Language four skills. In
classes and group activities the number of students in each group should be reduced. Hence, with
small groups, both teachers and learners will feel at ease when teaching/ learning the writing
skill. Teacher should use of product-oriented approach and reading technique for year 4 levels
when teaching writing. Teachers and parent should encouraging students to read and instill the
culture of reading in the library. Reading is the appropriate input to improve writing
inside/outside the classroom. Other than that, enough time should be devoted to written
expression for mastering the writing skill. Extension of written expression to the year 4
Amanahs’ students is an urgent need. It was believed that the only student that score band 4 in
the writing skill assessments has admit that his parent sent him for tuition at private learning
centre.
It is no doubt that the use of technology such as computer, internet and web logs (blogs)
has given a great contribution in enhancing the improvement of students writing skill. Teachers,
parents and school administrations should build the writing habit to help unwilling,
uncomfortable, and unsecured students to write and get rid of all these negative feelings. Finally,
teaching of writing and implement the task to all teachers at all levels and modules not restricted
As researcher conducted the study, researcher acknowledged that it was evidently true
that learning writing skill poses a number of problems to the students, as it is a skill that is
difficult to master; besides that, teachers too face great challenge to teach writing skills as
students may sometimes find it confusing and difficult to understand or failed to produce
effective writing in English. Writing therefore is not just putting pen to paper or writing down
ideas but it is how these ideas are presented or expressed effectively. A study conducted by Yah
Awang Nik , Azizah Hamzah and Hasif Rafidee 1 2 Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, University of
Malaya and University of Bradford, U.K. with a study title, “A Comparative Study on the
Factors Affecting the Writing Performance among Bachelor Students” has mentioned that
Writing is one of the most difficult skills for students to acquire. Writing is unlike spoken
language, as it requires the readers or the audience to understand and interpret what has been
written. The statement proved that factors affecting students’ weakness in writing skills are
Researcher admitted that most students from 4 Amanah were very eager to learn English
but due to their poor writing skills has made their interest in English subject decreasing. It was
sad to note that some students blame their English teachers for their lack of writing skills. This
attitude should be demolished and teachers should focus to instill positive perception towards
learning writing skills. Jack M. Chokwe Department of English, University of South Africa in
his research of “Factors Impacting Academic Writing Skills of English Second Language
Students” has stated that “some researchers attribute students’ poor writing skills to the teachers’
reluctance to teach writing. For instance, Harris (1977:175) reports that some teachers do not
teach composition at school level. This perception should be changed and taken serious act
before the situation become more unfortunate. Furthermore, researcher also indicates that there
are fewer writing activities done during English class and student writing skills are not properly
trained. Writing skills are indispensable in lifelong learning, without proper writing skills from
primary level soon students will encounter problems when pursuing higher education. Wingate
(2006:458) found that many students are no longer required to write essays at secondary schools
and that could be why students have problems with academic writing.
As a conclusion, there are a number of factors that contribute to poor writing skills
among students. Consequently, these factors affect the quality of student writing and the issues
As known that researcher planned to conduct the study on year 5 students but due to final
exam season and as advised by the schools administration, the study continues with year 4
students. However, to overcome this last minute changes, researcher had adapted the action
research appropriately with the amendments. After conducting the research, researcher admitted
that it was quiet unsatisfied to conduct a study with the target population of students as young as
10 years old. Researcher found that they are not mature enough to express their thoughts and
some of them failed to understand the questions that being asked. To overcome the situation
researcher took an effort to speak in bilingual of Malay Language and English Language, this
situation has drag the time allocated by the administrator for the interview session with students
After conducted this research, researcher found that the topic of research was
undoubtedly interesting to propose for further study. Many teachers and students are not aware
of the importance of studying writing skill in fact parents too should be aware and help to
improve in developing their childs’ writing skills. In conjunction with this matter, researcher
would like to suggest in future a study of factors affecting students writing skills that involve
parents as the subject of data collections. Other than that researcher were quite curious with the
impact of extra classes in the factors affecting students writing skills and do students need extra
classes to overcome their poor writing skills? Researcher too would like to propose in future to
increase the number of samples from the other classes and broaden up the study to outside
sources such as conducting factors affecting students writing skills between urban and rural
primary school.
CHAPTER 8
8.0 Conclusion
Writing is one of the indispensable things in studying English. It is one of the language
skills students have to learn in their learning process. However, in this study the result of analysis
shows that many students are not aware of the importance of studying writing skill. They even
spent a little time practicing this skill. This leads to the low quality of learning writing skill in the
school. By observation and data analysis, the researcher describes the reality of students’
learning writing skill, and the main problems were pointed out. Firstly, students are in shortage
of vocabulary because their ways of learning is not really effective. Secondly, students meet a lot
of difficulties when facing with grammar structures because they spend a little time on practicing
as well as approaching necessary materials for grammar skill. Thirdly, students are not interested
in writing’s topics. Fourthly, students do not have many chances for being corrected. Fifthly,
students’ sources of reading materials are not various due to their lack of awareness. Lastly, the
time allocated to learn writing in year four is not enough for students to practice. The results of
research also reveal that many students made a lot of mistakes in writing English and this make
they lost interest in writing. Students of year 4 Amanah have not mastered the grammar
structures and lacks of materials for research. This problem too contributes to the main reasons
of factors affecting students’ writing skill. With the discovered causes, the researcher suggested
some solutions to these problems like read books or play games related to developing Language
skills, in order to increase vocabulary. In addition, learning in group has been established for
correcting errors and practice grammar. Moreover, creativity in teaching methods in writing
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Appendix
Students’ Questionnaire
1) Indicate which of the following four skills is the most difficult one?
A. Listening
B. Speaking
C. Reading
D. Writing
2) Do you feel uneasy when expressing your ideas and thoughts in writing?
A. Yes
B. No
A. Everyday
B. Sometimes
C. Not At All
A. Yes
B. No
A. Vocabulary
B. Grammar
C. Style
D. Content
E. Coherence/ Cohesion
F. Punctuation/ Spelling
6) Where do you find difficulties when writing in English? At the level of:
A. Sentence
B. Paragraph
C. Essay
A. Teachers
B. Learners
C. Lack of practice
F. Lack of reading
A. Yes
B. No
If “yes”, what do you like to write?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...............
……………………………………………………………………………………………...............
A. Good
B. Average
C. Poor
D. Satisfactory
E. I do not know