Abstract:
Writing skill is employed as the chief tool for the assessment and evaluation in
the academic culture. Therefore, almost all accrediting and awarding exams are
conducted in writing. Hence, the academic writing skill possesses a paramount
importance for the aspirants of higher education. The graduate and post graduate
students of English Literature possess a rich reading background of English
Literature. Hence, they are expected to possess presentable written communication
skills in all form of writing especially in the Academic Writing skills.
This study was conducted to identify the problems in Academic English
Writing skills for the students of literature studying in public sector universities. The
study focused on the identification of problems in writing and the causes along with
the assessment of contemporary teaching methodology of writing skills. The
population of the study comprises four major public sector universities offering B.S
and M.A in English literature. A sample of 210 students and 22 teachers was selected
to collect the data through close-ended and open-ended questionnaires. Brief drafts
were also obtained from the students to determine the readability level and error
analysis. The same drafts were transcribed and processed through Flesch readability
ease test to determine an evaluation. t-test and Pearson’s Correlation r- test were
applied on the data to ascertain the results. The Convergent Mixed Method Research
approach was exploited to analyze the data and results obtained from the
questionnaires and scripts.
The findings of the study reveal that students are facing many problems in
academic writings such as the writer’s block, lexical complications, first language
interference, memory complications, cognitive challenges and the surface issues like vocabulary and grammar. It was found that a rare attention is paid on the
psychological and lexical development of writers that results in the form of
disinterestedness among the students towards Academic Writings. Revision in the
syllabus, inculcation of modern writing methods and modification in the assessment
and evaluation of writing can help to overcome these problems.
