DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY NON – ENGLISH MAJORS IN LEARNING IELTS WRITING AT a UNIVERSITY IN HO CHI MINH CITY

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES _____________ Nguy ễn Phú Đại DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY NON – ENGLISH MAJORS IN LEARNING IELTS WRITING AT A

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

_

Nguy ễn Phú Đại

DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED

BY NON – ENGLISH MAJORS IN LEARNING

IELTS WRITING AT A UNIVERSITY

IN HO CHI MINH CITY

MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

HO CHI MINH CITY , 2021

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

_

Nguy ễn Phú Đại

DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED

BY NON – ENGLISH MAJORS IN LEARNING

IELTS WRITING AT A UNIVERSITY

IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Field: English Language Code: 8220201

Supervisor: Nguy ễn Nhân Ái, Ph.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2021

Except where reference has been made in the text, this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person

The study reported in this thesis was approved by Graduate Academy of Social Sciences

Author’s Signature

Nguy ễn Phú Đại

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Nguy ễn Nhân Ái, Ph.D

Date:………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Although only one name appears as the author of this work, writing a thesis is indeed a collaborative effort I would like to express my sincere thanks

to the many people who made it possible

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and deep appreciation to Ms Nguy ễn Nhân Ái, Ph D, my supervisor, for her helpful and warm encouragement as well as her insightful comments on my work from the beginning to the end of the study

Next, without the cooperation of the respondents (students at Ton Duc Thang University) who have been willing to take part in this research, this study would not have been able to be completed I am very grateful to all of them for providing detailed information for the analysis of the study

In addition, I would like to thank all of the lecturers who gave me interesting lessons, dedication and advice during my study at Graduate Academy of Social Sciences

I'd like to express my gratitude to my colleagues and friends, whose motivation and support have enabled me to complete this study

Last but not least, I must express my gratitude to my family It is their endless love and expectations that have motivated me to complete this thesis I

am immensely thankful for all the assistance they have given me

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF FIGURES ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aim(s) of the Study 3

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 Scope of the study 4

1.5 Significance of the Study 4

1.6 Research methods 6

1.7 Structure of study 6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 The IELTS Test Battery and the Writing Sub-test 7

2.2 The Writing and Academic writing skill Defined 9

2.3 Writing strategy 13

2.3.1 Modelled writing 14

2.3.2 Think aloud writing 14

2.3.3 Guided writing 15

2.3.4 Independent writing 15

2.4 Writing and academic writing difficulties 15

2.5 Factors influencing non-English-major student’s writing skills 17

2.5.1 Problem with vocabulary 17

2.5.2 Problem with grammar 18

2.5.3 Problem with spelling and punctuation 18

2.6 Factors influencing non- English major students’ writing skill 19

2.7 Error analysis of learners’ writing 24

2.8 Previous studies 27

2.9 Chapter summary 28

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 30

3.1 Overview of research methodology 30

3.1.1 Research design 30

3.1.2 Research question 30

3.2 Research Participants 30

3.3 Data Collection Instruments and Procedure 32

3.4 Chapter summary 35

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 37

4.1 Data Analysis from Questionnaires 37

4.1.1 Part one: Background information 37

4.1.2 Part two: Students’ writing proficiency and writing difficulties 38

4.1.3 Part three: Academic writing 46

4.1.4 Part four: Students’ difficulites in learning IELTS writing 51

4.2 Data Analysis from Interviews 57

4.3 Chapter summary 61

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 63

5.1 Recapitulation 63

5.2 Concluding remarks 64

5.3 Implications 65

5.4 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 66

REFERENCES 67

APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 VIII

APPENDIX 3 IX

ABSTRACT

This study aims at investigating the difficulties of non-English majors in IELTS writing The participants in the study are 30 students selected in 2 IELTS class of Ton Duc Thang University To achieve the research aims, a mixed methodology was employed, whereby data was collected through the Students’ Questionnaire, and semi-structured Interview The results obtained from the Students’ Questionnaire revealed that the majority of students encountered difficulties in vocabulary, grammar and academic style in writing

To be specific in IELTS, they have problems in choosing information and interpreting information of the graph in task 1 On the other hand, they also meet obstacle in 2 types of task 2 which are Problem - Solution and Cause – Effect In addition, those difficulties in IELTS writing task share the same issues in Coherence and cohension and time-pressure problems.Based on these findings, teachers are advised to take into account students’ writing problems, and the elaboration of more writing sessions are among the pedagogical implications

Key words: IELTS writing, IELTS writing difficulties, academic writing

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

IELTS: International English Language Testing System TDTU: Ton Duc Thang University

SMS: Short Message Service

NSW: New South Wales

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Band score of countries in Asia 2

Table 2: Format of the IELTS Writing Sub-test 11

Table 3 Students’ gender 37

Table 4 Students’ English level 37

Table 5 The level of writing proficiency 38

Table 6 Following the writing instructions in other modules 42

Table 7 Writing outside the classroom 42

Table 8 The integration of reading in writing session 44

Table 9 The importance of reading in improving writing 44

Table 10 The degree of reading 45

Table 11 The type of English students use when using internet or SMS 46

Table 12 Students’ justifications to the type of English they use 48

Table 13 Students’ justifications about the effect of internet and SMS on their English writing 51

Table 14 Common errors of Students in learning IELTS writing 51

Table 15 Students’ difficulties in learning IELTS writing task 1 52

Table 16 The most difficult types of IELTS writing task 2 53

Table 17 Students’ difficulties in learning IELTS writing task 2 54

Table 18 Students’ expectation to overcome difficulties in task 1 55

Table 19 Students’ expectation to overcome difficulties in task 2 57

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 The scheme of the conceptual theoretical framework

(Bahri & Sugeng, 2010) 35

Figure 2 Aspects of difficulties in learning writing 35

Figure 3 The strategies used in learning writing 39

Figure 4 The degree of English use via Internet and SMS 42

as a result of various instructions they need to respect

Over the decades, the number of English learners wanting to study at the higher level in countries using English has upward trend Consequently, many learners from non-english speaking countries are trained to take part in English language tests such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) widely recognised as a language requirement for those who want to study or work where English is used as the primary language

IELTS is one of the most widely used and trusted English ability examination, as well as an international standardised assessment of English language proficiency for non-native English speakers that is recognised by the majority of academic institutions and educational organizations around the world Nevertheless, due to the challenges they face in preparing for the test, not everyone who takes the training courses will be able to achieve adequate proficiency in IELTS Vietnamese non – English majors are absolutely the case

The following table shows the extent to which the Writing skill band score of Vietnam candidates is lower than the other three skills and also other countries in 2020

Listening Reading Writing Speaking OVERALL

Table 1 Band score of countries in Asia

Looking at the statistics above, speaking is probably the area where there has been the least improvement over the year Though writing band score is not the lowest, it still implies that non – English major learners may meet more difficulties in learning IELTS Writing compared to learning other skills Comparing results against other countries in the region such as Taiwan, Phillippines, Hongkong, and Malaysia, it is noticeable that Vietnamese candidates’ scores in writing are generally lower than those countries This is

to explain that it is of great necessity to find out what difficulties non – English major learners face when learning IELTS writing skills, which more or less resulted in their unsatisfactory band score

Among the four macro language skills of English assessed by IELTS, writing is without doubt the most problematic to the researcher who has spent four years as an undergraduate learning for IELTS and is currently teaching IELTS at a university This problem of the reseacher is also shared by the vast majority of his learners It is not uncommon that when asked what the most

difficult language skill in IELTS is, almost all of his students claim that it is the writing skill that causes them the most trouble

All of these reasons stated have become the motivations that simulate the researcher to conduct “Difficulties encountered by non – English majors in learning IELTS writing”

1.2 Aim(s) of the Study

As an aforementioned introduction, I carry out this research to determine the challenges encountered by non - English major learners in IELTS Writing; the concentration is on the difficulties that they have to face in IETLS writing and how they can improve writing skills, and what they should do to overcome their difficulties

Since they are expected to write reports and articles, graduate students are believed to have a strong command of the English language Furthermore, they are expected to lecture, do research, and publish books and articles after graduation Nonetheless, experience has shown the bitter fact that most students are poor at writing and this seriously limits them when they are assigned to write papers or do research Thus, the main objectives of this study are:

- finding the respondants’ writing problems

- detecting types and frequency of writing problems

- seeking suggestions and beliefs regarding where the writing problems lie and how they can be rectified - determining whether students have more strengths

or weaknesses in IELTS writing graphs or essays

1.3 Research questions

In this study, the researcher made attempts to seek answers to the 2 following questions:

1 What are the difficulties faced by the non – English majors learners in IETLS writing?

2 How can students minimise those in learning IELTS?

1.4 Scope of the study

Within the limitation of the scope of this study, it is not my ambition to cover all of the aspects of IELTS writing skills Therefore, non – English majors learners’ difficulties and how to overcome those difficulties are concentrated

It is conducted in IELTS writing classes A1 and A2 of SDTC Center in Ton Duc Thang University

There is a variaty of difficulties that learners face when learning IELTS writing; however, due to the limitation of time and scope of the study, this paper aims to explore the most common difficulties of IELTS writing tasks The study conducts an insightful analysis of those difficulties to find out the causes and

to identify suitable solutions to help learners deal with those difficulties The results of this study are expected to:

1 Find out difficulties perceived by non – English majors learners in IELTS writing

2 Minimise the difficulties perceived by non – English majors in IELTS

1.5 Significance of the Study

The investigation on difficulties faced by non-majors in IELTS writing and other well-established IELTS writing test contexts has not yet been undertaken Studies have scratched the surface of the difficulties on IELTS writing faced by non-majors Written tasks that are modelled on the test, along with practice that simulates the test’s conditions are widely established (Green, 2007; Hayes & Read, 2008) Nevertheless, how students respond to two tasks

of IELTS, particularly 150-word Writing task 1 and 250-word Writing Task 2 practice compositions, has not been the subject of research, and is consequently

poorly understood What difficulties encountered by learners in those tasks? How do they overcome those problems? The aim of this exploratory mixed-methods study is to shed light on the problems that non-majors face in IELTS writing by examining which their English and academic writing proficiency

The significance of the present will reflect on both teachers and students

of English at the Ton Duc Thang University, considering the skill of writing as

an important tool in IELTS academic performance A great demand of writing proficiency is required from students to accomplish various tasks ranging from homework assignments to dissertations Teachers of writing at the Ton Duc Thang University will find this study useful in exploring students’ major difficulties in writing Additionally, students of non-English major, particularly IELTS learners, will benefit from the findings of the research to learn more about the different stages included in IELTS writing composition, and attempt

to build on which a better understanding of the IELTS writing More interestingly, this study provides overt perceptions about the skill of IELTS writing for teachers of writing as well as for future researchers who wish to carry studies on this subject

The findings of the study might contribute a lot to the graduate and graduate students and teachers teaching such students The findings might also help curriculum and materials developers Knowing writing problems, especially IELTS writing problems, and areas of difficulty can significantly improve learners' awareness and hence some major steps can be taken by policy makers so that the students improve their writing skill It is assumed that if students improve their writing skills, they can disseminate their research findings and what they write is more publishable and up to the international writing standards

post-1.6 Research methods

In order to answer the two research questions, this study involves both qualitative and quantitative methodologies; specifically, it conducts survey questionaire and interview for non – English majors about their matters and difficulties that they have to cope with when doing IELTS writing tasks

The documents are relevent researches on academic writing and especially IELTS writing as well as difficulties experienced by non – English major learners

1.7 Structure of study

This chapter is a brief sketch of the study including rationale for the study, aims and research questions, significance and scope of the study The precise details will be given throughout the rest of the study

Chapter two works on the theoretical background bolstering the issue, followed by a review of three previous researches on the topic

Chapter three outlines the relevant research methods for the study as well

as the reasons why these methods are employed Participant selection, data collection and data analysis are also included in this chapter

Chapter four is the discussion and findings of the research in which accurate statistical analysis and comprehensive explanation are presented with the aim of giving precise answers to three research questions Furthermore, pedagogical implications are given in this section

Finally, chapter five summarizes the main findings of the research, exposes some limitations, and puts forward suggestions for further research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews the relevant essential theoretical foundation for the current study The chapter starts with a brief introduction to the IELTS Test Battery and the writing sub-test in particular in which the format, requirements, and marking criteria are made clear, continues with previous papers relevant to the topic of the present research together with comments and opinions made by the researcher on the findings of those studies and ends with factors influencing the learning of writing skill and writing performance of EFL/ ESL learners

2.1 The Writing and Academic writing skill Defined

The research of writing, along with the other modes of language, has received a lot of interest from various academics It is approached by Harmer (2007), as a process that should be undergone over different stages including, the drafting stage, the editing stage, the planning stage, and the final draft Similarly, Damiani et al (2011) regards the writing skill as the procedure that calls planning, reflection and the organization of ideas, in addition to the required effort and attention that EFL students are invited to respect Indeed, the definition that suits the objectives of this paper is the one put forward by Bell and Burnaby (1997, p 148) They regard the writing skill as a cognitive skill that writers are required to master with attention to sentence structure, appropriate selection of vocabulary items, a careful attention towards spelling and punctuation They add that learners need to master the linguistic knowledge and also the ability to integrate information coherently and cohesively in a written discourse Concerning the above mentioned, some EFL learners achieve low proficiency level in writing essays Therefore, the following section is intended to highlight the most prevalent essay writing difficulties that these learners encounter along with some potential sources of these difficulties

Success at advanced level of education such as college or university requires developed communicative skills known as academic literacies It also

“involves adapting new ways of knowing: new ways of understanding, interpreting and organising knowledge” (Lea & Street, 1998, p 158) One of these skills is academic writing Irvin (2010) considers academic writing as “ a form of evaluation that asks you to demonstrate knowledge and show proficiency with certain disciplinary skills of thinking, interpreting, and presenting” (p 8) Tarnopolsky and Kozhushko (2007) explained academic writing as “the most creative type of writing that can be taught to students of English as a foreign or second language” (para 4) and have also account for it

as “ a unique means for learners’ consciously mastering the creative, productive, and expressive approach towards communicative performance in the target language” (para 5) Academic writing is highly required for university courses (Whitaker, 2009) During academic writing assignments Whitaker have demonstrated that students are mainly required to ask good questions and examine their answers They are also required to show good understanding of the main topic they are discussing and develop critical arguments about it Coffin, Curry, Goodman, Hewings, Lillis and Swann (2003) listed what students’ need to do in academic writing; the list is as follows:

 Take up a position

 Adopt a particular perspective

 Put forward points for and against a particular position

 Explore possible positions

 Link theory and evidence

 Draw a conclusion

 Analyse

 Be critical

 Develop a central idea

 Use evidence to support an argument

 Express personal opinions

 Use personal interpretations

Academic writing is, therefore, a tool for success at higher educational levels if mastered perfectly by students It will result in a high sense of research skills, information analysis and other skills such as arguing, organising and expressing personal views (Whitaker, 2009)

2.2 The IELTS Test Battery and the Writing Sub-test

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a comprehensive international English language proficiency examination intended to measure the language skill of applicants who need to learn or work where English is the language of communication (IELTS Handbook 2007, p 2) It is jointly administered by the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, the British Council, and IDP Education Pty Ltd, and was founded in 1989 There are two versions of the IELTS: the Academic Version and the General Training Version:

 The Academic Version is designed for those who wish to enroll in universities and other institutions of higher education, study or practice

in an English-speaking country

 The General Training Version is intended for those planning to undertake non-academic training or to gain work experience, or for immigration purposes

Most Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, New Zealand, and South African academic institutions, over 3,000 United States academic institutions, and numerous professional organizations approve IELTS Immigration to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada is also a prerequisite This is one of the

exams that can be used for a long-term visa to the United Kingdom to fulfill the requirements of the English language No minimum score is required to pass the test An IELTS result or Test Report Form is issued to all candidates with a score from 1 (no knowledge) to 9 (expert user) and each institution, employer, or government agency sets a different threshold Institutions are advised not to consider valid a report older than two years unless the user proves that he has worked to maintain his level

All candidates must complete four Modules - Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking - to obtain an individual band score for each sub-test and an overall one, the average of the four individual bands, which is shown on the IELTS Test Report Form All test-takers have to do the same Listening and Speaking sessions, while the Reading and Writing session differ depending on whether the examinee is taking the Academic or General Training Versions of the Test (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IELTS)

The writing Sub-test is one of the four skills-focused components which made up the IELTS Test Battery IELTS writing test is a direct test of writing

in which tasks are academic writing and contextualized with a specific purpose and genre, reflecting the recent developments in writing research There is no choice of topics; however, IELTS states that it continuously pre-tests the topics

to ensure comparability and equality IELTS has both academic and general training modules consisting of two tasks per module In the academic writing task, for Task 1, candidates write a report of around 150 words based on a table

or diagram, and for Task 2; candidates write a short essay or general report of around 250 words in response to an argument or a problem In general training writing, in Task 1, candidates write a letter responding to a given problem, and

in Task 2, they write an essay in response to a given argument or problem Both academic and general training writing tasks take 60 minutes The academic

writing component serves the purpose of making decisions for university admission of international students, whereas general writing serves the purposes of completing secondary education, undertaking work experience or training, or meeting immigration requirements in an English-speaking country

Task Length Time

limit Task description Academic module

(minimum)

20 mins

A report describing visual information presented

in a bar chart, table, graph, diagram, or map

(minimum)

40 mins

An essay presenting a logical argument and opinion related to a topic of general interest

General module

(minimum)

20 mins

A formal/informal letter asking for / giving information or explaining/ complaining about a problem

(minimum)

40 mins

An essay presenting a logical argument and opinion related to a topic of general interest

Table 2: Format of the IELTS Writing Sub-test

Marking and assessment

Each task is assessed independently The assessment of Task 2 carries more weight in marking than Task 1 Writing responses are assessed by certificated IELTS examiners All IELTS examiners hold relevant teaching qualifications and are recruited as examiners by the test-centers and approved

by British Council or IDP: IELTS Australia

Detailed performance descriptors have been developed which describe written performance at the nine IELTS bands Public versions of these

descriptors are available on the IELTS website

The descriptors apply to both the Academic and General Training

Modules and are based on the following criteria

Task 1 responses are assessed on:

• Task Achievement

• Coherence and Cohesion

• Lexical Resource

• Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Task 2 responses are assessed on:

• Task Response

• Coherence and Cohesion

• Lexical Resource

• Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Task Achievement (Task 1)

This criterion assesses how appropriately, accurately, and relevantly the response fulfills the requirements set out in the task, using a minimum of 150 words Academic Writing Task 1 is a writing task which has a defined input and a largely predictable output It is basically an information-transfer task which relates narrowly to the factual content of an input diagram and not to speculated explanations that lie outside the given data

Task Response (Task 2)

Task 2 requires the candidates to establish and develop a position in relation to a given prompt in the form of a question or statement Ideas should

be supported by evidence, and examples may be drawn from the candidates’ own experience Responses must be at least 250 words in length Script under the required minimum word limit will be penalised Score are reported in whole and half bands

Coherence and Cohesion

This criterion is concerned with the overall clarity and fluency of the message: how the response organizes and links information, ideas, and language Coherence refers to the linking of ideas through logical sequencing Cohesion refers to the varied and appropriate use of cohesive devices (for example, logical connectors, pronouns and conjunctions) to assist in making the conceptual and referential relationships between and within sentences clear Lexical Resource

This criterion refers to the range of vocabulary the candidate has used and the accuracy and appropriacy of that use in terms of the specific task Grammatical Range and Accuracy

This criterion refers to the range and accurate use of the candidate’s grammatical resource as manifested in the candidate’s writing at the sentence level

• Scores are reported in whole and half bands

• Scripts under the required minimum word limit will be penalized

2.3 Writing strategy

Kirby and Crovitz (2013) stated that “Teaching writing is challenging; it may be one of the toughest jobs a teacher faces” (p 9), however “it can also be rewarding” (p.11) The effective teaching of writing for Kirby and Crovitz requires time divided between practice, sharing writing, completing the piece

of writing, and time to respond and evaluate all of that writing (p.9) The teaching of writing also occurs with the help of certain strategies that aim at enhancing students’ writing productions The writing strategies are identified

by several researchers as the teaching of generic processes such as brainstorming (Troia & Graham, 2004), or the strategies for achieving writing tasks such as story writing (Fitzgerald & Markham, 1987) Additional to the

writing strategies writers may employ in during their composition, there exist

a number of strategies used to engage students in writing

2.3.1 Modelled writing

Teachers use this strategy to allow students “to gain knowledge about language, vocabulary and text structures required to write for a range of purposes” (The NSW Department of Education and Training, 2007, p 29) Models used in this strategy are real world texts students read, they might vary from newspaper articles to literary works depending on the teacher’s selection The implementation of this strategy starts by introducing the text type to students while clarifying the audience and the purpose behind writing the text Then the teacher points out to the type and the features of language used by the author and its effect on the readers, and he ends up with providing students with chances to practice the writing skills they have acquired studying these models (p 28)

2.3.2 Think aloud writing

Think aloud strategy is one way to engage students in writing that function as a stimulator for writing Think aloud is defined by The NSW Department of Education and Training (2007) as a method in which students are saying aloud what they are thinking about during their composition which helps them organize and edit their writing In addition, The NSW Department

of Education and Training asserts “It is a strategy that can be used to demonstrate a comprehensive range of skills, knowledge and understandings about writing” (p 33) Moreover, the implementation of this strategy comes as the teacher selects a particular skill to focus on, and then he chooses few writing samples and apply the think aloud strategy in order to illustrate the reasoning and editing during writing

2.3.3 Guided writing

In guided writing strategy, the teacher’s role is as the name of the strategy denotes is a guide for students, and they work cooperatively in order to compose a written text This strategy “ can involve the whole class, small groups or individuals”, it can also be with help of the teacher “a key strategy for assisting students who need additional support in writing” (The NSW Department of Education and Training, 2007, p 34) In short, guided writing emphasizes on the role of the teacher in fostering and facilitating student’s writing, by focusing on their needs, measuring and assessing the students’ achievement of the outcomes Then the teacher helps students building prior knowledge and skills students develop in writing (The NSW Department of Education and Training, 2007)

to help them accomplish the writing tasks This strategy also helps students become aware of their writings increases self-assessment

2.4 Writing and academic writing difficulties

Writing difficulties refer to a string of difficulties encountered by students during the writing process (Aswervik, Ogden and Rygvold, 1999) It was asserted by Graham and Harris (2006) that writing difficulties are picking out inappropriate words to bypass spelling problems This has a negative impact on the content of students' writing Furthermore, writing challenges are linked not only to students' inability to create well-formed sentences, but also

to their ability to be creative (Reents, 2001) To summarise, the points made so far, writing difficulties are a bunch of obstructions encountered by students throughout the writing process Prepositional errors, tense inconsistencies, spelling errors, punctuation errors, and other issues are just a few examples Having such difficulties affects adversely student’s essay writing quality A final remark to be made is that students are expected to improve their writing skills, especially essay writing skills, by hook or by crook

According to Koch (2004), coherence denotes the ability of the writer to combine the arrangement of sentences altogether in the text so that the reader decodes and understands it Such a notion calls attention towards the consideration of coherence in any piece of writing as a cognitive process in which the writer is invited to mind the language they are using, the vocabulary they are selecting and the bound arrangement of sentences to form unity which enables the reader to appreciate the piece of writing (Favero,2010; Lee 2002) Put simply, coherence is the ability to produce meaningful correct sentences with the appropriate use of vocabulary items and obeying certain rules of word arrangement In this light, an undertaken study done by Qaddumi (1995) shows that EFL students face difficulties in finding ways to employ the different types

of sentences and the ill use of some cohesive devices

In the eyes of Halliday and Hasan (1976) “the concept of cohesion is a semantic one; it refers to relations of meaning that exist within the text, and that define it as a text” (p 4) Put simply, cohesion is the relation that exists between lexis and grammar, i.e., Endophoric relation, as well as how grammar and vocabulary facilitate the understanding of sentence sequences within a text, that

is, Exospheric relation It was emphasized by Bailey (2003) that text cohesion refers to the clarity and readability in which the writer needs to establish a link through the use of various cohesive devices including reference, ellipsis,

substitution, conjunctions, and lexical cohesion In this respect, According to Cox et al (1990), good readers use the aforesaid coherent devices more effectively and adequately than poor readers Such a result indicates that reading seems to play a significant role in mastering the art of writing

2.5 Aspects of difficulties in students’ writing

The writing difficulties may be related to features like grammar, syntax, cohesion or others, and students usually vary in facing these difficulties Furthermore, students’ writing difficulties may be a result of different factors, because “ not only self-strategies influence students’ performance, but also the effectiveness of the methods and techniques that teachers apply in their English composition courses” (Aragón, Baires & Rodriguez, 2013, p 1) Significant to the nature of writing as a cognitive process, and the amount of time and effort it requires, Aragón, Baires and Rodriguez (2013) argued that students who have low interest in writing and learning to write mostly have low writing proficiency (p 1) Another research which confirmed writing difficulties was conducted by Salem (as cited in Huwari & Al-Khasawneh, 2013), in which he concluded that ESLs and EFLs encounter difficulties impeding them to writing effectively

2.5.1 Problems with vocabulary

Vocabulary is a necessary component for ideas to flow in the right direction In this regard, many researchers in the field attempt to identify the reason behind such a difficulty Hemmati (2002), interviewed thirty (30) Iranian EFL student writers concerning vocabulary difficulties in their writing

He finds that these learners have difficulties in both linguistic and performance That is to say, these writers lack the linguistic knowledge of the target language along with the inability to perform this knowledge into appropriate contexts

He concludes that the lack reading and the writing practice into the English

language are the main reasons behind such a difficulty It is safe to add that EFL learners encounter various writing difficulties in terms of grammar, spelling and punctuation The following section is devoted to discussing the sources that affect these learners from achieving appropriate essay writing

2.5.2 Problems with grammar

Grammar was defined by Neuleib (as cited in Hartwell, 1985) as “the internalized system that native speakers of a language share” (p 205) A more detailed definition was proposed by Harmer (2001) as “the description of how words can change their forms and can be combined into sentences in that language” (p 12) These ways are called ‘the grammar rules’ that are basic elements in every language, and are also inseparable from writing (Hartwell, 1985) Grammar rules mainly include various rules such as tenses, prepositions, word class, voice and many others These rules stand as a problem for many students in writing The main writing difficulties students find in relation to grammar is the low understanding of grammar, which results later on in difficulties in arranging proper writing (Bahri & Sugeng, 2010)

2.5.3 Problems with spelling and punctuation

Spelling and punctuation are two commonly shared writing difficulties among students While it is assumed that learning how to spell words correctly occurs early in language instruction, this is not always the case, as spelling can

be complicated in some cases Moreover, spelling is said to be closely interrelated with reading; Frith (1980) argues that “Learning to read should imply learning to spell and learning to spell should imply learning to read” (p 496) However, this is not always the case, for there exist people with excellent reading abilities, but struggle when it comes to spelling words (Frith, 1980, p 497) The misspelling of words as a result of the English spelling system's irregular is the most common writing difficulty related to spelling (Bancha,

2013) This related to the similarities of vowels, for instance, that can be decoded in different spelling Additionally, While Harmer (2001) states that

“ the correspondence between the sound of a word and the way it is spelt is not always obvious” (p 256) Furthermore, he indicates that the reason causing difficult of spelling for students is “ the fact that not all varieties of English spell the same words in the same way” For instance, the way American English pronounce the word ‘behaviour’ differsfrom British English ‘behaviour’ In this sense, Harmer (2001) proposed extensive reading as a remedy for students

to overcome spelling difficulties

Besides, punctuation has also shown another issue in writing Caroll and Wilson (1993) reveal three problems related to punctuation Firstly, punctuation rules are not always exact, it is complicated, and it depends on writer’s style to clarify the meaning Since each punctuation mark is a unique way of interpreting the meaning, the way a student punctuates writing will completely change the meaning Therefore, students need to pay attention to the way they punctuate, which is a source of frustration for them

2.6 Factors influencing non-English-major students ’ writing skills

The ability to write does not come easily, but daily preparation and practice are required This suggests that learners need to spend time writing and reading a lot of materials in order to improve writing skills Factors such as lack

of inspiration, restricted reading activities, and the power of the mother tongue often influence the process of learning to write English as a foreign language

Many studies have shown that inspiration is still considered important in all learning experiences to achieve success In this view, Harmer (2006a) points out that "People involved in language teaching often say that students who want

to learn will succeed whatever circumstances in which they study They succeed despite using methods that 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."

It demonstrates that inspiration is one of the most basic factors having a significant impact on student performance Hence, learners can understand that the importance of writing practice in honing their skills, not just testing and evaluating This is critical in creating positive confidence in students, as extreme and prolonged anxiety will result in negative attitudes toward the issue

It is commonly known that the mother tongue is also one of the factors affecting learners in the process of learning a foreign language in general and learning writing skills in particular Although teachers always emphasize the need to think and write in English as much as possible, the learners often have the habit of thinking in their mother tongue then translating word by word into English This makes the article lengthy, incoherent causing misunderstanding

or ambiguity The problem is that even when the learners can write very well

in their native language, this does not mean they will be able to write well in another foreign language and vice versa

In the context of teaching English as a foreign language at universities

in Vietnam, a variety of activities have been introduced to develop students' motivation and writing skills However, these activities are still not effective enough to motivate learners for this skill (Nguyen, 2011) Owing to a lack of vocabulary and grammar skills, students have faced a variety of writing difficulties It can be concluded that students find writing to be the most problematic problem This could be explained by the low quality of English language teaching in general and writing teaching in particular “Causes of the low quality in teaching writing, especially in teaching argumentative essays, should be examined in light of current approaches to teaching English writing, the roles of teachers and learners in EFL writing classes, the impact of

Vietnamese culture and testing and assessment on learners‟ EFL writing.”

(Trinh, 2014)

Motivation is essential in every needed success Harmer (2006a) claims that various factors prevent them from writing First, fear of failure, that is fear

of not being able to attain their goals especially in contexts where they are asked

to reflect their knowledge about the language and their abilities in putting this knowledge in different frameworks Second, the fear of committing mistakes

is another factor that prohibits them from writing In this sense, EFL students feel uncomfortable over the structure of the essay or any piece of writing that they are intended to follow Therefore, failure comes to play Thirdly, some students are unable to show their work; they hide their flaws and tell themselves that they cannot continue writing when they have already failed

Evidence has shown that better readers are better writers and better writers are more likely to language exposure than poorer readers In this ground, Raimes (1994, p 42) stresses the importance of reading into the foreign language by saying that “the more our students read, the more they become familiar with the vocabulary, idiom, sentence patterns, organizational flow, and cultural assumptions of native speakers of the language” In the same vein, Kroll (1997) claims that “it is reading that gives the writer the feel for the look and texture of reader-based prose” (p 48) All in all, lack of reading is among the sources that can cause dissatisfaction in EFL essay writing

Beside reading, students still face another problem that prevents them from writing In this respect, almost all students mention in the constructing process, Vietnamese is activated in their minds instead of thinking in the target language Such a fact has inspired some researchers to investigate this dilemma While EFL teachers emphasize the importance of EFL students thinking and writing in English, their students sometimes deviate from this directive In this

regard, an investigation done by Friedlander‟s (1997, p 109) indicateds that

“writers will transfer writing abilities and strategies, whether good or deficient, from their first language to their second, or third language” Another perspective has been voiced by Carson, Carell, Silberstein, Kroll and Kuehan (1990) who point out that EFL learners don't need to be good in the first language to be so in the second or the foreign language However, as mentioned

by Blanchard and Root (2004, p 204) “writing remains a difficult skill to accquire and each language has its writing conventions that the writer needs to learn them without interfering with other language or languages” The section that follows attempts to provide overtly the sample selected for the study, with the identification of the research instruments to see what results are to be obtained

As the progress of modern life continues to grow, so does the ways of communication in an attempt to link people and narrow distances between them Text messaging is a feature of mobile phones that is widely used by a growing number of users nowadays The development of the Short Message Service (SMS) service came in the 1990s was introduced as a way for communication that is of a less cost than phone calls (Mirza, 2015) Thurlow (as cited in Mirza, 2015) stated:

The limit of 160 characters per SMS has motivated users to invent space saving strategies to make SMSing quicker and more cost-effective, as exceeding this limit results in the user paying for sending an extra SMS (para 2)

The limited space of an SMS has resulted in inventing new ways of including as much information needed concisely Such strategies may include

“a significant amount of abbreviation, and creative use of punctuation and symbols” (Mirza, 2015, para 3) The increasing use of SMS along with SMS

strategies among people especially students is questioned if such a feature can impact students’ academic writing in any particular way In his study of investigating the presence of features of SMS in students’ written works, Mirza (2015) discovered that students’ have shown few features of SMS speak Whereas results derived from questionnaires revealed that the minority of participants were frequent users of SMS, and they believed that their academic writing was affected by SMS in terms of spelling, inappropriate use of abbreviations and acronyms Another study was conducted by Dansieh (2011) where he surveyed a large number of both students and teachers Results came

to show that the majority of the population confirmed that SMS have a negative effect on their writing skills Contradicting with these findings, Crystal (as cited

in Dansieh, 2011) reported that SMS texting is not that harmful, but rather improves it He argued that SMS texting involves people in using the language,

it also makes them think about the spelling of words before writing them, an argument of Crystal against bad spelling which SMS texting is assumed to have

on writing Moreover, Dansieh (2011) reported a third party which considers SMS texting of no effect Presumably they stated that language used while texting is another language separated from English that will cause no negative impact; since students can distinguish between “slang, texting lingo and correct English” Russel (as cited in Dansieh, 2011)

Social networking has become widely used by a large number of people across the globe The reasons for its spreading is the possibilities of sharing ideas, connecting people and the easy access for almost all sorts of information People have started spending more time surfing the internet, and as a result many have become more and more addicted to it to extreme limits This issue

is not an exception for students, for “ they find it difficult to study for one hour without login to one network site” Egedegbe (2013, para 2) This increase in

internet networking sites (SNS), and the constant use of it, among students particularly, leads to the question stating the nature of influence of internet networking on students’ writing proficiency

Nowadays, internet and Social Networking Sites (SNS) are used for different reasons However, internet and SNS are not always of that good, Risto (2014) claimed that “ educators fear that students will draw upon their most frequently utilized form of communication, texting and social media, for their sentence patterns, grammar, punctuation, and word choice” As a result, as internet can be used in enhancing one’s skills in writing it also inhibit it A number of studies, Horton, Alloway and Dawosn (2012); Wood et al (2014) (as cited in Mingle & Adams) have been conducted which confirmed that internet, social media and texting have a negative effect on students’ writing especially in terms of spelling, grammar

2.7 Error analysis of learners’ writing

Errors and mistakes are part of students’ writing as they progress in learning to write Hadler (as cited in Bahri & Sugeng, 2010) argued that “Errors give the writer evidence of difficulty which students have problem in practicing writing, although they do not provide them with all the possible evidence, nor are they to be taken as the only proof” (p 3) Considering errors as a proof that students face difficulties during writing, the emergence of error analysis (EA) was first established in the 1970s by Corder “as a type of linguistic study that focuses on the errors learners make” (Sawalmeh, 2013, p 2) According to Corder (as cited in Sawalmeh, 2013) EA is of two main objectives.The first is

to understand learners as they learn in a second language (L2), while the second

is to enable effective learning by using learners’ knowledge of his native language (L1)

Errors were classified by Brown (as cited in Sawalmeh, 2013) as of two origins, the first of which is interlingual errors which “ are those errors that are traceable to first language interference” (p 4) While the second is intralingual errors were explained by Keshavarz, Fang and Jiang (as cited in Sawalmeh, 2013) “they result from faulty or partial learning of the target language rather than language” (p 4) Corder (as cited in Khasawneh, 2013) indicated that the process of error analysis is conducted through four stages It starts with recognizing the meaning of an error and identifying its type Then followed by an explicit description, and explanation of the error, and, by finally, classifying the error In their investigation of writing difficulties among students, Bahri and Sugeng (2010) depicted a framework of errors along with stages of error analysis that explicitly illustrates the process of EA, the framework is demonstrated below in figure 1

Figure 1 The scheme of the conceptual theoretical framework

(Bahri & Sugeng, 2010)

2.8 Previous studies

Writing skill is an interesting topic that has been studied by some researchers In accomplishing this research, I have read some previous research dealing with the topic Of relevance to the present research are three studies

The first (Lan, 2007) investigated the importance of paragraph writing

to students at National Economics University (NEU), their difficulties in paragraph writing, causes of these common errors, and effective strategies for teaching writing paragraphs The results of the study indicated that all students partaking in the study have positive attitudes towards their paragraph writing course Lan (2007, p.35) revealed that even though the NEU students have studied English for a long time, more than 10 years, their writing skills are very poor They often commit many mistakes in writing concerning organization, content, and most seriously use of language Another important finding of the study was students’ preference for teaching writing methodology Most of them prefer the teacher’s provision of language knowledge, explanations of sample paragraphs, and group discussion to self-studying through reading materials However, the research failed to explicitly explain causes of students committing errors in paragraph writing

The second (Hoa, 2008) sought to find out students and teachers’ difficulties in learning and teaching writing the textbook “Writing 1” at Hung Vuong university and ways to sort out those problems The findings suggested that students’ typical difficulties in learning writing with the textbook “Writing 1” are lack of vocabulary, lack of cultural knowledge, first language interference, and poor grammar Teachers who were directly teaching writing using that textbook also face numerous troubles such as the textbook itself, repetition of teaching techniques in every class, ways to correct students’ errors, shortage of writing reference materials, and lack of teaching aids Accordingly,

some suggested solutions are put forward: organizing writing workshops, distributing diagnostic tests to students, equipping students with some knowledge of contrast between English and Vietnamese, employing diverse error correction techniques

The third (Asaoka & Usui, 2003), a longitudinal study, investigated the kinds of problems encountered by students while they completed their writing assignments as well as the ways they handle the problems in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program at a Japanese university The kinds of problems the participants had trouble with while completing an essay assignment could be roughly divided into three areas: surface-level problems (grammar, expressions, mechanics), macro-level problems (planning, topic, coherence, organization), and external factors (deadline, word count requirements, availability of appropriate sources, students’ perceptions of teachers’ expectations, lack of positive reinforcement, and their attitudes toward the first language use) Ways to help the students better at writing mainly include teachers’ provision of more grammatical exercises in class, teachers’ intervention and construction at an early stage of students’ writing when they choose the topics, teachers’ supportive and open attitudes towards students’ ideas, plans, and concerns through individual meetings, and teachers’ flexibility in writing schedule

2.9 Chapter summary

In this chapter, the literature review includes a review of theoretical background and the previous studies As a productive skill, writing is significant for students in the learning of the target language In the context of study, academic writing is one prolem that students and leaners faced in the study process as well as taking part in international exam This chapter shed light on the theoretical framework surrounding the skill of writing, and the main

microskills and processes in writing composition It deals with the main difficulties encountered by non-Engish majors in writing, specifically IELTS writing