Thuyloi university english majored students’ challenges in writing skill

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THUYLOI UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION (SIE)

---THUYLOI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH-MAJORED

STUDENTS’ CHALLENGES IN WRITING SKILL

Ha Noi 5/2023 –

Group Members: Vu Hoang Hai 64NNA2 –

Nguyen Thi Cam Ly – 64NNA1

Nguyen Thanh Mai 64NNA3 –

Nguyen Hanh Nhung 64NNA3 –

Nguyen Thuy Quynh – 64NNA3

Supervisor: Lam Thi Lan Huong Hoang Le Hanh Department: English Linguistics

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II. LITERATURE REVIEW ... 7

1. Review of theoretical background ...7

1.1. Definition of writing ...7

1.2. Writing skill concepts ...8

2. Main challenges in writing skills ...9

3. Review of previous studies: ...11

III. METHODOLOGY ... 14

1. Participants ...15

2. Research instruments ...16

3. Data collection process ...17

4. Data analysis procedures ...17

1.5. Coherence & Cohesion ...22

2. What challenges in writing skills are English-majored students facing? ...24

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3 ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to find out the mistakes and provide solutions to and challenges in writing skills that students majoring in English at Thuyloi University are facing. To do this, we used a quantitative method, with a survey questionnaire consisting of four main sections: general information sections, mistakes, challenges, and recommendations. A total of 133 first- and second-year students from English Linguistic Department participated in this survey. The analysis of data showed that the biggest difficulty that students face in writing is vocabulary and sentence structures. The findings also revealed that English writing is not subject of interest for most English-majored a students. Lack of ideas, some psychological and motivational factors are the biggest challenges for these students. We finally came up with some recommendations, such as being highly focused when writing, brainstorming before writing, being time-controlled, etc., that help English language majors at Thuyloi University improve their writing skills.

Key word: mistakes, challenges, difficulties, writing skills, English-major students, Thuyloi university.

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4 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: General information ...15

Table 2: Common mistakes in English writing. ...18

Table 3: Vocabulary mistakes ...19

Table 4: The relationship of writing and grammar. ...19

Table 5: Grammar mistakes ...20

Table 6: Punctuation & Spelling mistakes ...20

Table 7: The influence of mother tongue to sentence structure in English writing. ...22

Table 8: Common mistakes in sentence structure. ...22

Table 9: Common mistakes in coherence & cohesion. ...22

Table 10: The order of components in a paragraph. ...23

Table 11: Motivation in English writing...24

Table 12: Lack of ideas in English writing. ...25

Table 13: Teachers’ feedbacks in English writing. ...27

Table 14: Writing facilities in English writing. ...28

Table 15: Strategies in English writing. ...29

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5 I. INTRODUCTION

Writing is a language skill that people use as an essential medium to express their thoughts, ideas, and attitudes. In the process of learning English, writing skills are often considered difficult for learners, because to be able to write English well requires learners to have language knowledge, including the ability to use linguistic knowledge, the ability to use contextual vocabulary, the ability to organize ideas, and logical and coherent thinking. "Writing is a difficult skill for native and nonnative speakers alike because writers must balance multiple issues in their writing such as content, organization, purpose, audience, vocabulary and mechanics which means using the right punctuation, spelling and capitalization" (Abu Rass, 2015, p. 49-59).

Learning to write is a relatively complex and time-consuming process. Thus, English learners need patience and regular practice. In the process of teaching English writing skills, teachers must constantly explore and apply creative and appropriate teaching methods to create excitement, which may gradually help learners improve their writing ability and become more confident when learning this skill.

Students often show negative attitudes towards writing. This is due to their fear of making mistakes in writing as they are not confident to express their thoughts through writing. In this regard, to the researchers' best knowledge, few studies have been conducted to show the attitude of students towards writing (Abdul-Kareem, 2014; Mohammad, 2020; Yahya, 2017). The negative attitudes generally arise from their incompetence in syntax, coherence, idea expansion, content selection, topic sentence, rhetorical conventions, mechanics, organization, lack of vocabulary, and inappropriate use of vocabulary. In these studies, writing s ms to be the most difficult skill to improve, ee therefore, it needs a lot of time and requires more attention. In addition, writing skill is significant for students because in educational contexts, it is the major factor for a successful and much better academic performance. However, learning to write well is usually problematic. Most students often face various difficulties in writing, and they believe that it is a challenging task to take.

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In fact, English in general and English writing skills in particular are a big barrier for Vietnamese students today. According to the statistics of English subject scores of the Ministry of Education and Training, in the national high school exam in 2022, there are 446,648 English high school graduation exams with scores below 5, accounting for 51.65% (My Ha, 2022). This has shown the low English proficiency of the majority of Vietnamese students. Although they have been learning English since elementary schools until universities, not to mention extra English classes at international English centers, many students still do not meet the requirements of English skills for work in businesses and agencies. The difficulties in English writing skills are also clearly shown in the IELTS exam results as IELTS test takers often receive the lowest band in writing compared to the 3 other skills - Listening, Reading, and Speaking (Prasad, 2022). As mentioned above, writing skills require many different aspects of knowledge, so it is no wonder that writing becomes an exceedingly difficult skill for most students, even in their mother tongue. Thuyloi University always considers English an important subject in the learning curriculum. The university focuses on teachi ng English to all stud ents in the first and second year. Moreover, this subject has also become one of the compulsory subjects in the training process for all students. Since 2021, the School of International Education [SIE] of Thuyloi University has developed the English-majored program with 2 main majors that include English Management and English translation and interpretation to help students receive intensive training in this language.

However, English in general and English writing skills in particular are usually d ficult if for most non-English majored and English majored students. The low English entrance exam scores of this university’s students may be one firm evidence for this statement. Thuyloi University used to specialize in training students in the fields of irrigation, electricity, and engineering, so at first, these majors did not require high test scores and proficiency in the English subject. Students entering this university only need to pass the “benchmark” . As a result, the majority of students' knowledge of English is still limited. Their language skills, especially writing skills are not good. Nevertheless, students majoring in English are no exception. Although the admission score is higher than the

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average level of other majors, in general, the English skills of English major students of Thuyloi University are still diverse. According to the list of English language majors’ scores published by Thuyloi University on school website (điểm chu n ẩ trường Đại học Th y L i, 2022), the entrance scores of this major in the last ủ ợ two years were quite high. They were 23.55 in 2021 and 25.70 in 2022. In addition, there were also many students who are admitted to the university by the high school profile with score 24.00 in 2021 and 24.34 in 2022. This leads to different levels among English major students. It can be inferred that a part of English majored students at Thuyloi University may also face challenges in writing skills.

This research study aims to find out the difficulties in writing of English majored students at Thuyloi University. It also intended to offer some recommendations on how to help students overcome those problems. In order to achieve the above objectives, the following research questions were addressed.

1. What common writing mistakes are English-majored students facing? 2. What challenges in writing skills are English-majored students facing?

3. What are some strategies/recommendations/solutions to help improve students’ writing skills?

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Review of theoretical background

1.1. Definition of writing

Writing is a graphic representation of speech. A student communicates his or her thoughts and feelings through writing and speaking skills. Speaking creates a communication situation between the speakers who deliver their message to the listeners. However, in the case of writing, it is quite different; the writer conveys his message through his feelings and ideas. Furthermore, writing is the act of forming letters or characters and artistically assembling them to express ideas; it is an essential component of learning any language.

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Several academics define "writing." It is defined as a "transformation of knowledge that involves convincing readers of the value, significance, and credibility of one's work" (Tardy, 2005, p. 325). It obliges the learners to possess the capacity to incorporate various necessary skills, which may involve gathering, revising, synthesizing, and rewording the information (Akiko Tetsuro, 2001). Likewise, Abdul-Kareem (2013) describes writing & as “the construction and development of techniques taught in universities, such as organizing and generating students’ ideas and critical thinking and developing vocabulary and grammatical syntax” (p. 1553). Sperling & Fredman (2001) tried to define the nature of writing as a set of sub-processes that include planning and reviewing. Observing this process, the researchers believe that steps need to be followed when writing an essay. Regardless, there are some points to keep in mind, such as the quality of the language and the addressee being written about.

1.2. Writing skill concepts

Writing is a necessary skill for university students, as it is the primary mode of communication in academic and professional settings. The ability to write clearly and effectively is crucial for students to succeed in their academic coursework and beyond. Writing skills help students present their ideas coherently, communicate with clarity, and express their thoughts persuasively.

University courses demand a high level of writing proficiency, and students are expected to produce a variety of written assignments, such as essays, research papers, and case studies. Writing skills are crucial for students to excel in these assignments and earn good grades. Moreover, writing skills are essential for building critical thinking skills, which are critical for academic success. Lado (1971) states that graphemes are a graphic representation of a language, and information is conveyed through the written medium through the use of conventional graphemes. Furthermore, Gathumbi and Masembe (2005) proposed two categories to evaluate students' essay writing: basic and advanced skills. The correct use of vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and being well-written are basic skills of writing.

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Strong writing skills allow students to think critically by analyzing and synthesizing information, making logical connections between ideas, and developing well-structured arguments. Writing skills also help students develop research skills by enabling them to locate and evaluate credible sources, organize, and analyze data, and present their findings in a clear and concise manner.

In addition to academic success, writing skills are also required for professional success. In the workplace, employers often value good writing skills as they help employees communicate effectively, write clear and concise reports, and engage with clients and stakeholders. Writing skills are, therefore, an essential part of employability, and students who possess strong writing skills are more likely to succeed in their professional careers. In conclusion, writing skills are vital for university students, and it is essential for universities to prioritize teaching and enhancing these skills in their curriculum. By providing students with the necessary tools and support to develop their writing skills, universities can equip them with the skills they need to succeed academically and professionally.

2. Main challenges in writing skills

Writing properly is considered a crucial challenge for university students. The most typical challenges emerge due to a lack of motivation, a lack of ideas, incomplete syntax, inadequate writing facilities, and teachers’ feedback. Further study is essential to uncover and assess those variables that negatively impact students’ writing skills, so challenges in writing can be more effectively managed if the components that create them are recognized (AbuRass, 2015). In his research, Mehrabi (2014) indicated that, in contrast to receptive skills and potentially even speech, writing demands a greater understanding of grammatical structure. Writing, in both practical and communicative senses, has specific qualities that result in diverse inputs to total language development. Manchón (2011), as referenced in Sanjana (2015), claimed that writing is employed regularly in language practice for learning other languages.

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Both writing- -learn and learning-to to-write tasks help to develop the learners’ foreign language skills. Ur (1996) recognized that the principle and purpose of writing skills are to express ideas and convey the message to the reader. Additionally, the writers should be attentive to some formal aspects such as neat handwriting, correct spelling, correct use of punctuation and vocabulary, and standard grammar. These characteristics are necessary because higher standards of language are usually required in writing than in speaking. He also stated that more accuracy of expression, more careful creation, and a more particular and different vocabulary are also key features of writing. The most important point when a student submits a piece of original writing is to check whether the ideas and events presented are interesting and significant or not. Additionally, the writer should organize his thoughts and ideas and present them through the writing in a way that the readers can read and understand it easily and feel pleased to read it. However, maintaining a fair balance between content and form is one of the problems in teaching writing skills (Sanjana, 2015). Klimova (2010) performed research on students from the Faculty of Informatics and Management at the University of Hradec Králové. The study's goal was to explain writers' abilities. After reviewing students' written activities, the results revealed that students made errors in two areas, one of which was the stylistic component of their writing. This mostly concerns register and appropriateness, overly lengthy sentences, poor words, or phrase choices, and so on. It also clearly illustrates that EFL students confront this challenge when writing.

In general, challenges in writing can be categorized into linguistic, psychological, cognitive, causal, and pedagogical categories (Fareed, Ashraf, & Bilal, 2016). Furthermore, an unsuitable structure complicates the content and comprehension of the text; they struggle with the structural components of English. Likewise, an incoherent text fails to communicate ideas, which causes a lack of confidence in students even if they have mastered syntactic, lexical, and grammatical command over text composition. Also, learners' lack of confidence is affected by a teaching strategy that does not conform to their learning styles and cultural backgrounds. Poor writing skills are attributed to two factors: the teacher and the student. Teachers lack an appropriate educational approach to teaching writing, effective feedback for students, prompt feedback, and, most importantly,

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the ability to motivate students. Students, on the other hand, face a number of difficulties, such as L1 transfer effects and a lack of reading, motivation, and practice (Fareed, Ashraf, & Bilal, 2016).

According to extensive research, writing in a second or foreign language learning context is a complex, difficult, and demanding task. According to Alsamadani (2010), "this difficulty and complexity arise from the fact that writing includes discovering a thesis, developing support for it, organizing, revising, and finally editing it to ensure an effective, error-free piece of writing" (p. 53). Although writing has been recognized as an extremely important skill, particularly in the academic context, research studies have found that it does not have a deserving place in language programs (Dempsey et al., 2009; Badger and White, 2000; White and Arndt, 1991). Language usage refers to students' correct application of grammatical rules, correct verb forms, subject-verb agreement, proper sentence structure, appropriate vocabulary, entire phrases, and avoidance of precise translation from the mother tongue to the target language (Tyner, 1987; Kharma, 1987; Zamel, 1985). As a result, students will struggle to express themselves adequately unless they have a clear idea of what they will write about and adhere to writing principles. Moreover, grammar and spelling are essential for conveying accurate and clear messages because "misused grammar or spelling can frequently lead to problems and terrible losses" (Muslim, 2014, p.107). Language use problems are defined as learners' inability to fulfill the following requirements in thei r writings: correct grammar, a variety of vocabulary, meaningful punctuation, correct layout conventions, spelling accuracy, using a variety of sentence structures, linking ideas and information across sentences to develop a topic, and developing and organizing the content clearly and convincingly (Hedge, 1988).

3. Review of previous studies:

The writing skill is generally recognized by students as a difficult skill among the three skills of listening, speaking, and reading because it involves a lot of unlimited factors such as time, language knowledge, vocabulary, etc. It requires the writer to have a good knowledge base, and a lot of practice, but in school, this skill has not been given much

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attention, leading to confusion in the process of learning English for students. If pupils have a weak foundation in writing, it can cause significant drawbacks in their writing performance. In order to understand more about the actual difficulties in writing, we have consulted the previous research articles of many authors. It has been pointed out that the main difficulties leading to poor writing skills in English majors’ students are vocabulary, grammar, motivation, lack of ideas, teacher’s feedback, poor spelling, and facilities. The first challenge is about vocabulary. In a study by Mohamed Ali Al-Khairy in 2013 in Saudi Arabia with 75 participants from Taif University, the main problem they had was employing the right vocabulary in their academic writing. Most of the students failed to communicate their ideas because of their weak vocabulary (Shagia Afrin, 2016). Students who have a strong vocabulary can communicate ideas more effectively while speaking or writing, and students with little vocabulary can benefit from using an electronic dictionary and engaging in more reading activities (Mohamed, 2022). Learners' inability to employ suitable discourse markers, the wrong vocabulary to represent their ideas, or the habit of using the same words over and over again in their writing (Abdullah, 2020). Similar to this, it was discovered that the word order was improper and made it difficult to explain meaning (Fareed, Almas, Bilal, 2016). Because of their limited vocabulary and lack of expertise in word choice, EFL students frequently utilize the same words, misuse vocabulary words, and write with unclear meanings (Ahmed, 2019). Also, they select inappropriate words or phrases that do not further the meaning (Shagia, 2016).

The second challenge is about grammar. Writing requires a strong understanding of grammar. Grammar gives details that aid readers in understanding what it means (Mohamed, 2022). They struggle with sentence construction, cohe rence, and cohesion, including punctuation, tense, articles, subject-verb agreement, capitalization, fragments, and spelling (Shagia, 2016). Similar to Shagia Afrin (2016), grammar and syntax problems were the language concerns in the learners' writing, prepositions, articles, tenses, singular/plural, verbs, sentence structure, and the usage of colloquial and spoken idioms were among the mistakes (Fareed, Almas, Bilal, 2016). Grammatical issues are

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one of their main writing challenges since it is difficult and challenging for learners to compose sentences with proper English structure (Ahmed, 2019).

It is also suggested that one difficulty students can encounter is a lack of motivation on the part of both teachers and students (Fareed, Almas, Bilal, 2016). If students lack motivation, they might not want to carry on with their learning (Saydullayeva Nasiba, Umarov Bobir Norboyevich, 2022). They simply want to pass their English course with a passing grade. That demonstrates their lack of enthusiasm for English, which hinders their academic success. They lack motivation and experience stress in the classroom when learning English (Shagia, 2016). If students can choose to write about their topics of interest, they are more motivated to write, and th efore, the quality of wer riting can be improved (Ibrahim Mohamed Alfaki, 2015).

Lack of ideas and focus were also mentioned as contributing factors to writing issues (Fareed, Almas, Bilal, 2016). Students lack topic knowledge, and they cannot write well, so they lack the confidence to put their ideas on paper (Fareed, Almas, Bilal & Shagia, 2016). Sometimes, students spend too much time thinking and trying to come up with ideas because they do not have enough ideas to start writing (Salem Saleh Khalaf Ibnian, 2017). Also, several pupils claim that the subject's complexity and their lack of interest prevent them from understanding it. (Awham Rasheed Mohammad, Khaldoon Waleed Husam Al-Mofti, Juma'a Qadir Hussein, 2020)

Teachers' feedback is also a factor that greatly affects students' writing skills. The majority of students agree that teaching writing skills, one of the most important and challenging skills for EFL learners, is something the teacher should take very seriously (Ahmed, 2019). As long as the teachers’ feedback is more supportive, more attentive, and l s judging, students can learn a lot from that and improve their writing (Ibrahim, 2015). es The writing instructor should include encouraging remarks in their written feedback to inspire students (Ibrahim, 2015). Sometimes, the evaluation provided by the teachers is sometimes confusing, incorrect, and imbalanced (Ibrahim, 2015), which do not help students improve their writing.

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Another challenge students face in their writing tasks is poor spelling. Those who have trouble with spelling will find it difficult to develop this ability (Mohamed, 2022). Numerous mistakes in spelling and punctuation were also discovered in Pakistan and Bangladesh (Fareed, Almas, Bilal & Shagia, 2016). Students frequently spell words based on how they pronounce them, they make spelling mistakes like missing, adding, transposing, and substituting letters, among other things (Shagia, 2016).

The seventh and also the final challenge to students' writing skills is that the lack of other necessary facilities will impede the development of their writing abilities (Fareed, Almas, Muhammad, 2016). The size of our classrooms and the length of our courses are also possibly contributing factors; these conditions prevent students from developing their writing skills. The ambiance in the classroom is unsuitable for learning (Fareed, Almas, Bilal, 2016). Also, it appears vital to provide classrooms with the required audio-visual tools in order to maintain students' interest in learning the English language and make up for whatever deficiencies they may have developed during their time in school (Ali Al-Khairy, 2013).

Researchers from many countries where English is a second language have pointed out many errors and challenges faced by English majors’ students. Specifically, there are seven main mistakes that most students make: vocabulary, grammar, motivation, lack of ideas, teacher's feedback, poor spelling, and facilities. This study will examine whether or not students majoring in English at Thuyloi University encounter the same errors and challenges as above. In the same vein, we try to provide some recommendations for improving writing skills in English learning.

III. METHODOLOGY

In this study, the researchers used quantitative methods to provide appropriate perspectives and practical analysis for th paper. is

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15 1. Participants

Table 1: General information

The sample of the study included 133 students who were the first- and second-year English majors at Thuyloi University. The number of male students who joined the English major was quite low. Therefore, for this study, the female participants are 108, while the male participants are 25. They are all between the ages of 18 and 21 and speak Vietnamese as their mother tongue. According to the statistics of the survey questionnaire, the participants are admitted to the university by different admission methods, such as high school profile, university entrance exam score, or direct admission. Admission methods - School profile

- University entrance exam scor

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Especially, nearly 80% of students passed the school by the high school profile. Moreover, first-year students tended to use their high school profile to apply for admission, but second-year students mostly used their scores on the national high school exam. This shows that the accuracy level of academic ability, specifically the English level of the first-year students, is not as good as that of the second-year students. Furthermore, since the majority of students come from urban areas and only 21.8% of students are from rural areas, it is easy to explain why there is such a big difference in students’ English levels.

In addition, in terms of the amount of time students studied English at school, most of them studied English for seven years or more, which means that they had considerable knowledge in English on average. That is also partly reflected in their scores and our survey, in which their high school exam scores are quite good (6–8 and 8 or higher). However, there were still about 10.5% of students with scores below average.

2. Research instruments

The instrument used in this research was a questionnaire. The researchers conducted a practical survey to collect data from the participants. The questionnaire was adapted from the ones in Phil Wood ‘s (2018) study and Shagia Afrin’s (2016) study. The researchers

consulted the questionnaires in the above studies since they had the appropriate evaluation criteria and composition for this study. The questionnaire consisted of three parts. The first part is general information, including seven questions about the personal information of the participants in order to assess the ability to generalize the practicality of the researchers. The second part contains items about difficulties and challenges in the writing skills of English-majoring students at Thuyloi University. This part included two sub-sections: the writing mistakes and the challenges. Section one comprised 18 questions with five main items involving the following proposed difficulties of English writing skills: (1) vocabulary, (2) grammar, (3) punctuation and spelling, (4) sentence structure, and (5) coherence and cohesion. Additionally, there is an open-ended question asking what skill they thought to be the easiest or most difficult. Section two was about writing

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challenges. In this section, there were 17 opinion questions with four main items that included challenges in writing English: (1) motivation, (2) lack of ideas, (3) teacher’s feedback, and (4) writing facilities. Finally, the third part was recommendations, advice, and solutions. This part consisted of 12 Likert scale questions and offered learners essential and useful advice on writing English. The last question was also an open-ended question asking for some suggestions to help learners improve and strengthen their English writing skills. The questions in the questionnaire were set to obtain information about their opinions, attitudes, problems, and solutions as an English-majoring student. These questions were designed to gather information about the problems they are facing while writing and the ways to deal with them.

3. Data collection process

This research project was conducted at Thuyloi University. It started in the second semester of the academic year 2022-2023. The researchers used Google Forms to create the questionnaire and sent it to all participants via email. Then the data were collected from the answers of participants by the statistics of the Google Forms. In this study, the researchers used quantitative data collected by closed-ended and optional questions. The data of the study were analyzed through the use of descriptive methods such as statistics, frequency, opinion, and selection.

4. Data analysis procedures

The result of the survey conducted among the participants was counted as percentage. The researchers processed the data manually and put these percentages in tables and from which inferred the findings. From the responses of the participants, the researcher finds out the reasons and solutions for their writing problems (Afrin, 2016)

IV. FINDINGS

In this survey, we have divided it into three main parts: writing mistakes, challenges, and recommendation. These three main parts helps to answer the three research questions. The

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findings from the survey were put in list of tables below and the degrees of agreement and disagreement were abbreviated the following: as

TA + A: Totally agree + Agree. N: Neutral.

D + TD: Disagree + Totally disagree.

1. What common writing mistakes are English-majored students facing?

Table 2: Common mistakes in English writing.

Punctuation & Spelling 21.8 52.6 25.6

Before going into specific analysis of the mistakes that students often make while writing in English, we asked them to sort the five mistakes mentioned in Table 2 from level one to level five, which means from the hardest to the easiest. According to the results we obtained, nearly 80% of the surveyed p ticipants consar idered vocabulary and sentence structures the most difficult in learning English. Most of the students (about 70%) also rated grammar, punctuation, and spelling, and associating ideas & linking as neither d ficult nor if easy. Only 25.5 % thought that punctuation and spelling was easy. To evaluate whether English majors at Thuyloi University enco unter these mistakes or not, and to what extend they make these mistakes, we asked for more details of each element above.

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1.1. Vocabulary

Table 3: Vocabulary m takes is

1. The lack of vocabulary is the reason why yo

writing becomes "poor", lacking in authenticity98.5 1.5 0 2. When writing, you often make commo

mistakes such as repeating words, using woin the wrong context

3. The lack of vocabulary will make you nknow what kind of words to use, so it is easymiswrite the sentence structure, making sentence meaningless or wrong

For the vocabulary part, in item 1, 98.5% of survey participants agree that the lack of vocabulary makes their writing poor and lacks authenticity. In item 2, 83.5% of the students agree that they often make mistakes such as repeating words, using vocabulary in the wrong context in the writing process. Finally, in item 3, up to 92.5% of students agree that lack of vocabulary is the reason they use the wrong type of words, leading to incorrect sentence structures making sentences meaningless or incorrect. Thus, through the analysis of the graphs, we see that the students participating in the survey gave feedback to our statements from the level of agreement to completely agree, accounting for almost absolute numbers. This shows that vocabulary is a difficult area for most students.

Next in the grammar section, in Table 4, about 67.7% of people agree that writing skills depend largely on grammar while still 33.3% of students disagree. According to the chart, we see that students are well aware of the importance of grammar because each essay requires certain grammatical accuracy and precision. Basic method to avoid misuse cases that confuse readers and affect the quality of writing.

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In the mistakes we have pointed out in Table 5, the students who rated this problem as normal make up an exceptionally large number. Thus, we understand that students have somewhat grasped grammar and how to use it, but sometimes they still use it wrong. High school Vietnamese students focused a lot on grammar when learning a language, so it is easy to understand the results we got from the survey. There are still too many problems in this area.

1.3. Punctuation & Spelling

Table 6: Punctuation & Spelling m takes is

3. You are subjective because the misspeldoes not affect the text content much

4. You think that punctuation marks are nreally important to the meaning of the sentenso you do not pay much attention to them

5. You understand the basic usage of punctuamarks in simple, complex, and compou

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As can be s n ee from Table 6, item 1 shows that only about one-third of the participants admitted making many spelling mistakes in the writing process, and 20.3 % of people opposed to this statement. In item 2, almost 50% of the students agreed that they depend on automatic spelling apps, which is understandable because in this age of advanced technology, people are becoming too dependent on them. Smart devices and the above statement is an example of this problem. About one-third of the students subjectively thought that spelling did not affect the content of the text as we can see in the item 3. From that, we can infer that they are not careless with correct spelling. Even based on the data we collected, students think that spelling plays a very important role in helping the writer convey the message they want the reader to understand.

In item 4, 53.4% of people disagree or completely disagree with the statement that punctuation is not really important to the meaning of a sentence. It means that students are aware of the importance of punctuation. However, there are still some people who think that punctuation is not important (24%). It may be because they have not paid attention to punctuation and are using it instinctively. But it is a fact that using the wrong purpose of punctuation can lead to wrong semantics and grammar of the sentence in particular and the essay in general, so punctuation needs to be taken care of while writing to avoid these mistakes, which affect the content and meaning of the article. Specifically, 49.6% of the students feel unsure and 46.6% understand the basic use of punctuation marks in all three types of sentences given in item 5. These percentages are approximately equal. We infer that for those who are unsure, they may still feel vague, incomplete, or fully mastered the use of punctuation. In general, students do not have too much difficulty with punctuation, they almost know how to use punctuation and are aware of its importance in writing English.

1.4. Sentence structures

In Table 7, 61.7% of the students agreed that thinking in Vietnamese and then switching to English would lead to a mistake in the structure and semantics of the sentence. The cause of this problem may be due to the difference between the sentence structure of Vietnamese and English.

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Thinking in Vietnamese and then switching

English leads to wrong structure and wrosemantics of sentences

Then, in all three of the mistakes listed in the Table 8, most students agree that they often make these mistakes. It has shown that they still do not fully understand and pay attention to the correct use of linking words. As a result, most students rate sentence structure at a difficult level. The reason may be that in English, there are quite a lot of conjunctions, but their meanings are similar, making students confused. Knowing how to use them appropriately is important so as not to miss the structure of the sentence.

Table 8: Common mistakes in sentence structure.

1.5. Coherence & Cohesion

Table 9: Common mistakes in coherence & cohesion.

1. You are conscious and clearly show coherewhile writing

2. You know how to use cohesion in the passa32.4 58.6 9.1 3. You know how to use linking words

substitute words, synonyms while writing

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The r ults of the first three items in Table 9 were quite similar. Over two-thirds of the es participants showed their confidence in applying coherence and cohesion in their writing. We can infer from the data that coherence & cohesion is not too difficult for students, as they already have basic knowledge of this field but sometimes still have a little trouble on how to use it. item 4 and 5, 43% of survey respondents responded at a moderate level In to planning before writing, which means they do not pay much attention to this. Finally, in the last figure of the mistakes section, about 69.1% of people agreed with the need to revise the article after writing. This is understandable because sometimes they will make basic mistakes like wrong conjugations, missing “s” or “es” in plural nouns, misspellings, etc., so proofreading is a necessary step. It should not be missing when you write essays not only in English but in any other language.

Table 10: The der components in a p agraph. orofar

We asked students to arrange the five basic elements listed in Table 10 in the correct order of a paragraph in English and the number of people who got it right was almost absolute. Everyone arranges the topic sentence, thesis, argument, example, and concluding sentence in sequence. In addition, there are a few people who confuse with the argument, so they have it wrong, but it only accounts for a small number.

In conclusion, those charts and data in the above section were the result of an online survey on the difficulties and challenges in English writing of first- and second-year students at Thuyloi University. The questions and opinions concentrated on the difficulties students are facing, including vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and spelling, sentence structures, coherence, and cohesion.

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2. What challenges in writing skills are English-majored students facing?

The next part of our survey addresses the common challenges of writing skills for English linguistics students at Thuyloi University. The issues we address here are presented in four sections: motivation, lack of ideas, teachers’ feedback, and writing facilities.

2.1. Motivation

Motivation is one of the factors that influences students’ psychology, especially because it also affects their writing skills. In this survey, there are five cases of motivation challenges mentioned.

Table 11: Motivation in English writing.

1.Writing is your favorite subject. 9 51.9 39.1 2. Not being able to choose your favorite writi

topic makes it difficult for you to write. 63.2 33.1 3.8 3. You often set goals on points for your writin 47.3 42.1 10.6 4. You are not interested in the subject mat

you are only interested in enough points to pthe exam.

5. You have always considered writing skills be a difficult skill that should lead to avoidancdepression while writing.

6. You have not improved your writing skilbecause you have not spent enough tpracticing these skills

In Table 11, item 1 shows the degree to which students prefer writing. Most of the participants answered "neutral" to the view that writing was their favorite subject. Nevertheless, the number of "disagree" respondents was higher (30.8%) compared to the number that agreed (3.8%). This shows that writing is not the favorite subject for English language students at Thuyloi University. Item 2 showed whether students meet difficulty in writing a topic which is not their favourite topic. Most respondents (62.8%) thought that they had difficulty in writing when they were not allowed to choose their favorite topic. Very few respondents (3.8%) were opposed to the statements. Therefore, it can be said that the subject of the article is a great factor affecting the quality of their writing. If students are not allowed to write about their favorite topic, they will have trouble writing.

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