The paper titled "Teaching Writing Skills to EFL Learners: Issues and Concerns" focuses on the challenges and strategies employed by L2 instructors at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia to enhance the writing skills of undergraduate learners. The primary research question revolves around understanding the development of writing skills at the undergraduate level and identifying the difficulties faced by both teachers and students in this process.
The study aims to investigate why writing tasks pose significant challenges for L2 learners, despite the provision of necessary input and motivation. It examines the teaching approaches used by instructors, including the product, process, and genre approaches, and their effectiveness in improving writing skills. The scope of the research also includes exploring the impact of these approaches on students' creativity and writing proficiency.
A mixed-methods approach was adopted for the study, involving a survey and focus group interviews with L2 instructors from two female campuses of King Khalid University. The participants were experienced teachers from non-native English-speaking countries, and the data collection involved a ten-question closed-ended questionnaire and unstructured interviews to gain in-depth insights into the teaching practices and perspectives on writing classes.
The key findings of the study reveal that many instructors primarily rely on product-based approaches, which emphasize correct language use and error-free writing. However, this approach often limits students' creativity and reduces writing to a mechanical exercise rather than a creative process. The study also found that the process and genre approaches are less commonly employed, although they offer significant potential to enhance students' writing skills by focusing on the different stages of writing and the social context in which writing occurs. Additionally, the study highlights the lack of interactive and collaborative exercises in writing classes, which could help students develop their writing abilities more effectively.
In conclusion, the study suggests that integrating process-oriented methods with product approaches could provide a more balanced and effective strategy for teaching writing skills to EFL learners. The findings underscore the importance of moving beyond a sole focus on accuracy and correctness to foster creativity and critical thinking in students' writing. The study recommends that instructors become more proactive in exploring and implementing diverse teaching strategies, as well as adapting their approaches to meet the specific needs of their students.