First-year English Majors’ Perspectives on the Difficulties in Learning the Writing 1 Course

Tóm tắt

Writing is one of the most challenging skills when learning English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Many language learners encounter difficulties during the writing process. The purpose of this study is to analyze students’ difficulties in the Writing 1 course based on their perceptions. This study employs both quantitative and qualitative methods. The instruments used are a questionnaire and an interview protocol. In this study, all participants’ responses were coded and analyzed descriptively. The participants consisted of 268 first-year English majors at an educational institution in the Mekong Delta region. The questionnaire data were coded and categorized by the researcher. During the interviews, the data were recorded and transcribed. These data were then analyzed to answer the research questions of this study. According to the findings, students face difficulties in learning Writing, with Grammar identified as the most serious challenge, followed respectively by Vocabulary and Cohesion and Coherence. It is hoped that this study will help instructors develop suitable teaching methods for Writing 1 and mitigate the difficulties students experience in this course.