EXPLORING FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ ESSAY WRITING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS AT GINBOT 20 SECONDARY AND PREPARATORY SCHOOL: GRADE 12 IN FOCUS

Abstract

This study was carried out to explore the factors that preparatory students encountered during writing essays. In order to meet the desired objectives, a descriptive case study was made involving all English language teachers and randomly selected 93 students in the study area. The data required for the study were generated through interviews and questionnaires. In addition, classroom observation and material review were also used. The data collected were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings of the study indicated that essay writing skill is affected by improper implementations of activities at different stages of writing; lack of knowledge of strategic use and shortage of students regular practice, awareness of grammatical knowledge by the teachers and the students, problem related to knowledge of vocabularies, use of inappropriate guide lines and strategies of feedback. Therefore, in order to help students, the researcher recommended that students need to practice writing tasks frequently. It is also advisable to acquire large amount of vocabularies and improve their grammar knowledge. On the other hand, the teachers are recommended to give model essays and manage activities of writing essay in accordance with writing guide lines, procedures and approaches of writing. They are also expected to allocate more time to writing essay and employ proper corrective strategies.