UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ ENGLISH WRITING PROBLEMS: DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDY (Published)
The aim of this study is to identify university students’ writing problems in English language and to suggest ways of solving those problems. The study was conducted in the Teachers’ College, and the College of Education, Nile Valley University, North Sudan in 2014. The research method used was the descriptive research method. A sample of 20 .English language students were selected using a simple random sampling procedure. They were instructed to write a composition of about 250 -300 words on “A description of my own home town/village”. The students’ compositions were reviewed twice by 10 English language instructors. The aim was to identify the errors and mistakes made by the students. The findings reveal that those university students have various writing problems: language problems at the levels of morphology and syntax; usage errors, and mechanical mistakes, that is, spelling, punctuation and capitalization, lack of several writing development skills, cognitive problems and graphomotor problems. In the light of these findings a number of recommendations have been made: It is always helpful to tell learners to revise their written work aloud. When they speak, they will make natural pauses and this will help them in punctuation. Spelling mistakes can be corrected by using dictionaries or spellcheckers. Usage mistakes and grammar mistakes will eventually disappear, if the students read extensively in English.
Keywords: grammar mistakes, mechanical mistakes, usage mistakes, writing problems