Midtest Writing Reflective 7: The Factors That Hinder the Effectiveness of Students' Writing and How to Overcome Them

 

Writing is one of the essential skills that we must learn. Writing is conveying ideas or thoughts into sentences. Writing is helpful for many things, one of which is to help students remember. In foreign language classes, writing skills help students memorize new vocabulary and more. The ability to write is not an instant ability that we can briefly master. However, writing is an ability that everyone must practice continuously. Therefore, many people find it challenging to master this skill.

Most of us often still find it difficult when write. The difficulties experienced by everyone are varied, such as the difficulty of conveying the ideas that we think or the problem of expressing a complex topic in writing, and many other challenges. Of the many factors that hinder students' effectiveness in writing, several general factors are usually felt by students in writing, including the first, namely grammatical problems. Grammatical is the meaning that arises from grammar, as we know that grammar is essential in learning a foreign language. If students do not master grammar, then students will have difficulty when writing. Therefore, grammatical problems are included as factors that can hinder students in writing. The second factor is the problem of word choice. In writing, we must choose words that fit the context of what we are writing. However, we often feel confused about whether the words we choose match what we mean or not. Therefore, students often feel stuck when they write. Another factor is cognitive problems. Cognitive problems include punctuation, the use of capital letters, and others. We often underestimate punctuation and the use of capital letters when we write. However, one of the requirements in writing is to pay attention to the use of punctuation and capital letters. Therefore, the ability of students to know and use punctuation and capital letters in writing should be by heart so that this problem is not included as a factor that can hinder their effectiveness in writing.

            Without us realizing it, motivation also greatly influences us in writing. When we write, we must know the purpose of our writing. By understanding our goals, we will find ways to achieve them. In addition, the motivation of those closest to us can also influence us in writing. When we are stuck in writing, we often feel unmotivated and have no desire to finish our writing. However, with the support of people around us, we will have the enthusiasm to finish our writing. Therefore, motivation is an essential factor in improving students' writing skills. In addition, practice can also enhance students' writing skills. Writing is not an instant process. In writing, there are many processes that we go through, starting from collecting ideas, choosing words and grammar, making drafts, and many other processes. With constant practice, we will get used to these various processes, and unconsciously our abilities will increase. With the help of feedback from the teacher can help students also find out their writing deficiencies. So that they can improve their abilities. Therefore, writing exercises and feedback from teachers are very important to improve students' writing skills.

            It can be concluded that writing is not an easy process. There are many stages and challenges that we must pass when writing. But with the many steps and difficulties that we experience, it doesn't mean we have to be afraid and don't want to learn it. Writing is an essential skill for us to master because there are so many benefits that we will feel when we can master these skills. With practice, getting feedback from the teacher and motivation from ourselves and others will increase our enthusiasm and ability to write. 

Thank you for reading my reflective! I hope your fasting goes well, everyone😇💪

Source: Pinterest

Reference:

Alfaki, Dr. Ibrahim Mohamed. (2015). University Students’ English Writing Problems: Diagnosis and Remedy. International Journal of English Language Teaching Vol.3, No.3, PP.40-52. Retrieved from http://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/UniversityStudents----English-Writing-Problems-Diagnosis-and-Remedy.pdf