AMBO UNIVERSITY

COLLEGES OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

DEPARTNENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND
LITERATURE

ASSESSING FACTORS AFFECTIN STUDENTS’ SENTENCE

WRITING: THE CASE OF GRADE 8TH, AT LEMI KURA
PRIMARY SCHOOL, ADDIS ABABA

A RESEARCH SUBMITTED TO ENGLISH LANGUAE AND

LITERATURE

BY:-
CHIMDESSA HAILU GELETTA
ID No: BSS /0470/09

ADVISOR: ALEMAYEHU WEDAJO KELBESSA (MBA)

AUGUST, 2022

AMBO, ETHIOPIA
 ADVISOR APPROVAL SHEET

This is to certify that the research entitled “Assessing Factors Affecting Students‟ Sentence
Writing: The Case of Grade 8th, At Lemi Kura Primary School, Addis Ababa” Submitted in
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of B.A. in English Language and
Literature. The under graduate program of the Department of English Language and
Literature has been carried out by Chimdessa Hailu Geletta with ID No: BSS /0470/09 under
my supervision. Therefore, I recommend that the student has fulfilled the requirements and
hence hereby can submit the research to the department.

__________________________________________________
Name of Advisor

__________________________________________________
Signature

__________________________________________________
Date

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and for most my sincere thanks to Almighty God for his vast and kindness for all what I
have ever achieved and to pass all the difficulties throughout of my life. Secondly, my sincere
gratitude goes to my advisor Alemayehu Wedajo Kelbessa (MBA) for his genuine and
unreserved guidance and comment of this frantic study from the beginning to the end. I
would also like to extend my thanks to my parents and relatives for their moral and material
support in any variety of this study.
Furthermore my heartfelt gratitude goes to my class mates‟ and all the people who were
willing to share their views with me by giving comments on this study. Lastly but never been
least, I gland to thanks and express my appreciation to the department of English Language
and Literature of Ambo University and also thanks to all my friends who were willing to
share their arguments with us by giving the psychological treatment and moral support on my
research study.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ATVET Agricultural Technical Vocational Education and Training

AUC Alpha University College

EFL English as a Foreign Language

MoE Ministry of Education

TV Television

TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language

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Contents Pages
ADVISOR APPROVAL SHEET ............................................................................................... i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .........................................................................................................ii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ................................................................ iii

LISTS OF TABLES .................................................................................................................. vi

ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................vii

CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................ 1

1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Background of the Study ................................................................................................. 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................. 2

1.3. Objective of the Study .................................................................................................... 3

1.3.1. Specific Objectives .................................................................................................. 3

1.4. Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 3

1.5 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................. 3

1.6 Scope of the Study ........................................................................................................... 4

1.7. Limitation of the study .................................................................................................... 4

1.8. Organization of the paper................................................................................................ 5

CHAPTER-TWO ....................................................................................................................... 6

2. REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE .................................................................... 6

2.1 The Nature of Writing ...................................................................................................... 6

2.2 Perception of Students‟ towards Practice in Learning of Writing Skills ......................... 7

2.3 Factors Affecting Student‟s Performances in Writing ..................................................... 7

2.3.1 Factors Enhancing Students‟ Performances in Writing ............................................ 8

2.4 Factors Hindering Students‟ Performance in Writing ..................................................... 9

2.4.1 Challenges of Teaching Practical Competence in EFL Setting ................................ 9

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CHAPTER-THREE ................................................................................................................. 11

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION ......................................................... 11

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 11

3.1. Research Design............................................................................................................ 11

3.2. Subjects and Their Sampling ........................................................................................ 11

3.3. Data Collection Instruments ......................................................................................... 12

3.3.1 Students‟ Questionnaire .......................................................................................... 12

3.3.2. Student‟s Interview ................................................................................................ 12

3. 3.3. Teachers‟ Interview .............................................................................................. 12

3.4. Document Review ......................................................................................................... 13

CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................................... 14

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................................................... 14

4.1. Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents ........................................................ 14

4.2 Factors Affect Students in Writing Skills ...................................................................... 20

4.3 Analysis of Teachers‟ Interview Response .................................................................... 20

CHAPTER FIVE ..................................................................................................................... 22

5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMANDATIONS ................................................................ 22

5.1 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 22

5.2 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 23

APPENDIXES I ....................................................................................................................... 24

BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 27

APPENDIXES II ..................................................................................................................... 29

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 LISTS OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Proportion and numbers of students from grade 8A and 8C ............................... 11

Table 4.1 Analysis of Students‟ Response Related To Factors That Affect Their Writing
Skills Performance in English in the Study School ............................................................. 14

Table 4.1.1 Result of data .................................................................................................... 16

Table 4.1.2 Lack of Wide Reading Habit Practice .............................................................. 17

Table 4.1.3. The Difficulty Nature of Writing ..................................................................... 17

Table 4.1.4. Lack of Interest of Students ............................................................................. 18

Table 4.1.5. Lack of Deep Understanding ........................................................................... 18

Table 4.1.6. Lack of Interaction Between Writing Teachers And Students ........................ 19

Table 4.1.7. Lack of Background Knowledge on Writing Skill .......................................... 19

Table 4.1.8. Lack of Knowledge on the Vocabulary ........................................................... 20

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 ABSTRACT
The main objective of this study was to assess factors affect in students’ sentence writing of
English Language student’s grade 8th at Lemi Kura primary school, Addis Ababa. The study
used a mixed method that involves quantitative and qualitative methods. Questionnaire,
interview and document review were used to gather the necessary data for the study. Three
English teachers and twenty four students’ from grade eight were the subject of the study;
and they were chosen in purposely. Thus, descriptive statistics such as frequencies and
percentages were employed in analyzing the quantitative data. The qualitative data were
analyzed in sentence description. Researcher used primary data sources to collect the data. A
primary data source is an original data source which is one in that the data are collected
firsthand by the researcher for a specific research purpose. In the analyzed data the findings
of the study indicated lack of interest in writing, lack of wide reading habit, lack of writing
background knowledge, fear of making mistake are some of the factors that affect students’
writing performance in sentences. Based on the result of the study recommendations have
been made to solve the failure of students’ writing performance in sentence particular
Teachers should encourage students’ reading habit because reading is necessary to develop
vocabulary knowledge, to develop grammar knowledge and to develop background
knowledge of writing structure and writing strategies and also teachers should clearly
introduce the writing topic while they give writing tasks for students unless students cannot
improving their writing task accurately and may not become effective.

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 CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
English is the most widely used international language. It has a variety of important
functions. First of all English has an important role in education. It is taught in the schools of
virtually every country in the world and , for a variety of reasons, many countries have
adopted English as the medium of instruction in their school and universities even when
English is foreign language (Brown, 2012). Large numbers of good–quality education
textbooks are published in English providing up-to-date information on every topic. Most
scientific research works are published in English. In the world as whole English is the
dominant language of the media (newspapers, magazine radio TV and the internet) and more
books are printed in English than in any other language. English is the most used language of
diplomacy and at international conferences. It is widely used for international business and
banking transactions and is the main language of advertising. English is the main language of
the international tourism industry and is the official language of the world‟s airlines. Out of
the entire world‟s computerized data, 80 % is stored in English. Three-quarters of the world‟s
mail is written in English. Finally, English is the most used language of entertainment,
including pop-music, and in international sport (AUC, 2006).

Writing skill is one of the productive language skills that might be a complex problem for all
teachers and students, since there are several aspects that should be gained. According to
Heaton (1991), the writing skill is a complex skill and sometimes difficult to be learned, the
learners should require not only mastery grammar but also sharing the information and
writing elements. In addition, Richard and Renandya (2010) explain that “writing is the most
difficult skill for learners to master”. The difficulty is not only in generating and organizing
ideas, but also in translation the ideas into readable text. In short, writing seems hard to be
implemented because of some considerations.

The study of language learning and how one is successful at the task of obtaining excellent in
English sentence writing is the question for all but most complex for second language
learners as different experts of language agree on it. But r it requires a lot of training in
sentence writing. Like all learning problems, difficulties in producing a good piece of writing

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can be devastating to the learner‟s education, self-esteem, self-confidence, and motivation to
write. Many researchers (Harmer 2007, Nunan 1989, Tribble 1997, Richards & Renandya,
2003) agreed that writing is the most complex and difficult skill. This difficulty lays not only
generating and organizing ideas in to readable text. Hence the research wants to know the
factors affecting students‟ sentence writing and what hinders student‟s to write correctly
especially among students of grade 8th.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Writing is one of the most important skills for students learning English for academic
purposes to develop, and yet for a range of reasons, especially large class sizes, which
prevent teachers from setting and marking writing skills, and the reluctance of teachers to
give students the freedom to express themselves in writing, the overall intellectual and
academic progress of many students is slowed down (John, Hailom, and Nuru, 1996). In this,
therefore, we shall investigate teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of students‟ performances
in writing skills at elementary school and grade eight in particular.

Researches have been conducted on different issues in relation to writing different times.
Gremew Leta (2009) conducted a research on the requirements in writing for academic
purpose at Asosa High school grade twelve with reference to three classes in focus. The study
indicates that there were various aspects of academic writing in which students had
deficiencies such as lack of cohesion and coherence in writing, problems of tenses and
shortage of basic vocabularies. Moreover, the result shows that many students find it difficult
to meet the requirements and expectations of their teachers. The study focused on the
students' performances in writing at high school level. The study conducted by Kenini Gelata
(2015), assessed paragraph writing and coherence problems and difficulties of grade 10
students with cohesion and coherence in English as a Foreign Language paragraph writing
using document analysis, class observation and semi structured interview. He focused on the
logical arrangement of sentences in a paragraph and the usage of cohesive devices. He found
out that students encounter some problems in their organization and consistency of English as
Foreign Language (EFL) paragraph writing. He didn‟t investigate all features of paragraph
writing. He concentrated on only assessing of paragraph organization and consistency. In
addition, the study was conducted by Bifa (2012) which focused on assessing problems
students encounter in writing practical reports through English language at Holeta ATVET
College using both closed and open ended questionnaire, interview and document analysis.

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The finding of the study revealed that the students confront several problems and hence
commit linguistic errors in writing practical reports of their practical works.

In this paper researcher was conducted assessing factors affect in students‟ sentence writing
in grade 8th, at Lemi Kura Primary School, Finfine (Addis Ababa). There are many factors
affects students‟ capabilities in sentence writing at primary school, because grade eight is the
end of second cycles for preparation of high school. Since writing is prominent part of the
English language, the teacher is obliged to possess knowledge of how to improve students‟
skills in an efficient way. The question is how to use this knowledge when the teacher is
supposed to compose different methods for lessons, evaluate the exercises and give proper
feedback to the students. Raimes (1994) agreed that there is no one answers to the question of
how to teach writing in English classes. This may be due to the fact that writing is a process
of exploring once thought and learning from the act of writing itself.

1.3. Objective of the Study

General objective of the study is assessing factors affect students‟ sentence writing at Lemi
Kura Primary School of grade 8th.

1.3.1. Specific Objectives

1) To identify the factors that affect students‟ writing performance in sentence.
2) To examine the students‟ strategies to minimizing their writing error in English.
3) To investigate how teachers implement the writing activities.
4) To identify the factors hindering or enhancing students‟ performance in writing skills.

1.4. Research Questions

1. What are the factors that affect students‟ writing performance in sentence?
2. What strategies a teacher uses to minimizing their writing error in English?
3. What perceptions do students have about their own performances in writing skills?
4. What factors do hinder or enhance students‟ performance of writing skills?

1.5 Significance of the Study

The New Educational and Training Policy give special attention to primary school education.
This is because primary school education is the place where students prepare themselves for
high school. In the primary school, grade 8 prepares students for various training programs
and due attention is given to the English language at this level of education. The English
language syllabus for grade 8 provides continued practice in the four major language skills
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and basic study skills so that students could develop their ability to communicate effectively
in English at school, and in everyday situations (MoE, 2001). It has been stated that by the
end of Grade 8, students will be able to; listen to and respond to specific information, use
English effectively to ask questions and discuss topics during the English lessons and in other
subject lessons, use English for social interactions, read a wide range of English texts for
information and enjoyment, write compositions on a range of topics, and complete given note
and summarize outlines and prepare for high school to learn all subjects in English language
for this reason practice writing skill very important because at grade 9 (nine) students may
writing by listening when teachers giving lectures.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The study is delimited to grade 8 students and their student‟s sentence writing skill in Lemi
kura primary school in Addis Ababa in 2014 academic year. In terms of variables it is
confined to views of students‟ regarding sentence writing skill performances.

1.7. Limitation of the study

The limitations emerged during the work of this research study were: firstly the process of
conducting this study, the researcher faced some difficulties. The first one is the absence of
personal computer and basic skill on it. Finance was the other challenge that faced during the
write up process. Thirdly, time constraint and is a serious problem of negative influence on
the work. And other the classroom observation schedule required ten days for the researcher
to follow and plan using formats when the observant teachers taught writing skill particularly
sentence writing. As the focus of this study is targeted at sentences writing, there need to
conduct the classroom observations when the sentences writings were being used
challenging. Secondly, open ended questions were more time consuming and difficult to
analyze and also they had to be translated into students‟ mother tongues (Amharic) for their
convenience and then retranslated in to English. Thirdly, the students‟ sentences writing
analyses were very challenging and also in order to assess the students‟ sentences text
(students‟ hand writings) were not readable. However, finally, it was managed by investing
lots of time and effort and then it was achieved.

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 1.8. Organization of the paper
The research paper has been organized in to five chapters. The first chapter is introduction
that consists of background of the research, statement of the problem, objectives of the study,
significance, Scope of the Study, limitations and organization of the paper. The second is
literature review. The third is dealing with the research methodology. The fourth covers the
results, discussion and interpretation of the study and the last fifth chapter is about
conclusions and recommendations while references and appendices are included in the last
part of the document.

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 CHAPTER-TWO

2. REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 The Nature of Writing
When we see writing skills compare to other skills it is not developed easily. It needs a lot of
practice. As Nun an (1989) defines that writing is an extremely complex cognitive activity for
all which the writer is required to demonstrate control of a number of variables
simultaneously. He adds that it is easier to learn to speak than to write no matter if it is a first
or second language (1980). Byrne (1988) states that students are affected certain
psychological, linguistic and cognitive factors make writing complex and difficult discourse
medium for most people in both native and second language. Thus, writing is not easily
developed because students are required to use any conventions related to writing. So as to
develop writing ability, students need to have frequent practice. It is obvious writing is one of
the language skills which helps for people to progress message capacities using conventional
signs or symbols that is letters and composition of letters. In order to interact clearly without
communication barriers in writing text, we are expected to follow writing any text.

To strengthen this Harmer (1991) describes writing as convention of text formation

manifested by hand writing, spelling layout and punctuation. This shows to write a certain
text; we need to follow rules of writing. In addition, Byrne (1988) consider as a process of
putting ideas in words to the target reader in mind. He said that writing is neither easy nor
spontaneous; it requires conscious mental effort. Even though writing has rules it is more
challenging when it involves producing significant parts to spread a message in the language
accordingly, Widdowson (2001) notes that “writing is the use of visual medium to manifest
the graphology and grammatical system of the language. That is to say, writing is one sense is
the production of sentences as instances of usage.” Therefore, students need use the graphic
system of language, it is grammatical structure and, select the appropriate vocabulary
(mechanism of writing) related to the subject matter.

This shows writing is most difficult and complex skill when it is compared to other English
skill. Further, (crystal, 1999) states that writing is not a merely mechanical task, a simple
matter of putting speech down on paper and it is an exploration in the use of the graphic
potential of a language creative process an act of discovery. Writing is a method of
expression and communication that helps students to transfer notions, feelings, and different

6
outlook in written form. Branan (2010) states that „‟Good writing is not usually easy. Writing
process makes challenges us all to overcome problems in our way.” Ontario (2005) reveals:“
Writing is a powerful instrument to use to express their thoughts, feelings and judgment
about what they have read seen or experienced. When it is compared to the other three skills,
writing is considered to be the most difficult to master. Writing needs hard thinking to
produce idea, sentences paragraph and composition. “Consequently, it is obvious that among
the four language skills writing skill needs practice bet it is challenging. However, it is
necessary skill to save and shared information in the next generation. Students also are
critical thinker so as to reflect notions in written texts for others. More specifically, Kelly
(1998) describes “Writing is a deliberate and more fully thought skill that needs practice and
carefully crafted word for just the right effect.” Similarly; Lycons and Heasley (1984) also
propose to define writing is a commutative occurrence between a writer and an intended
reader in which creates a discourse with the imagined reader and derives this a text by which
actual reader may approximate to the original discourse.

2.2 Perception of Students’ towards Practice in Learning of Writing Skills

Students usually bring their assumptions and beliefs about what a writing course should offer
them and in what way. When taking an academic writing course, students‟ main purpose is to
learn to write effectively within their particular discipline and to succeed in their academic
studies. Hence, students‟ needs, perceptions and present writing proficiency levels should be
sought first in order to offer them the required assistance. Research on students' perceptions
and beliefs has revealed that knowing students‟ perceptions and beliefs can play a crucial role
in developing the right program to meet their needs. Mazdayasna and Tahririan (2008) found
that Iranian students were aware of their needs as they indicated that they were very much
interested in improving their general language proficiency to succeed in their learning. Based
on Perceptions of Teachers‟ and Students‟ towards practice in Teaching and Learning of
Writing Skills, teachers teaching style and students learning preferences have positive effect
on students‟ performance.

2.3 Factors Affecting Student’s Performances in Writing

To facilitate effective communication through writing, it looks important to understand
various factors that enhance or hinder the teaching and learning of writing skill. One of the
factors is teachers and students‟ perceptions about students‟ learning of writing skill.
Perception refers to the sorting out, interpretation, analysis and integration of stimuli
involving our sense organs and brain (Richardson, 1996; Smith, 2001). Our perception shapes
7
our belief system and determines our practice (Skiba, 2002). It follows that teachers‟ beliefs
influence their judgments and practices, thereby determine how they behave in the classroom
(Noe, 2004).

2.3.1 Factors Enhancing Students’ Performances in Writing

The ultimate purpose of feedback is to enhance students‟ performance. For tasks concerning
factual knowledge, feedback can directly improve performance through stating the correct
answer (Smith & Ragan, 1993). With more complex knowledge or skills such as writing,
feedback is supposed to improve performance through its effect on motivation and/or strategy
use (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996; Vollmeyer & Rheinberg, 2005). The student needs to be
motivated and should learn how to approach the task and regulate the process. Just giving a
correct answer will not lead to improvement of future performance. As such, feedback is as
important for the “will and skill” to achieve as for the eventual achievement (Crooks, 1988;
Maehr, 1976).

Kluger and DeNisi (1996) have argued that the effect of feedback on performance depends on
the processes at which it directs attention. Central to their Feedback Intervention Theory
(FIT) are three hierarchically organized control levels: meta-task processes, task-motivation
processes, and task-learning processes. Meta-task processes involve the self and are at the top
of the hierarchy. Task-motivation processes involve the focal task and are located in the
middle of the hierarchy. Task-learning processes involve the task details and are at the
bottom of the hierarchy. Higher-level processes can influence lower-level processes. Meta
task processes have the potential to affect task processes through linking higher order goals
(e.g., investing in my career) to the task (e.g., writing a paper for this course). Task
motivation processes will activate task-learning processes (e.g., checking and reformulating
sentences) when performance is insufficient, additional effort offers no solution and the
preferred strategy is to change behavior (rather than changing the goal or the standard)
(Kluger & DeNisi, 1996)
According to FIT, negative discrepancies between the performance and the standard will
generally direct attention to task-motivation processes, leading to more effort. When this 16
does not reduce the discrepancy, attention might shift to components of task execution (task
learning processes) resulting in alternative attempts to execute the task, or attention might
shift away from the task to issues involving the self, such as self-esteem and impression
management (meta-task processes). In general, feedback cues that direct attention to task

8
motivation processes or task-learning processes coupled with corrective information on
erroneous ideas or hypotheses are assumed to enhance feedback effects on performance.
Feedback cues that direct attention to meta-task processes are supposed to reduce the effect of
feedback on performance, because they divert attention from the task. More positive effects
of feedback on performance are expected for tasks that require fewer cognitive resources,
because when performance is heavily dependent on cognitive resources, extra motivation
does not per definition translate into better performance (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996).
Motivation is an essential element of successful language acquisition and is a dynamic
process subject to continuous flux (Do¨rnyei, 2001). Williams and Burden (1997) suggest that
each individual L2 learner‟s motivation is influenced by both external factors related to the
socio-cultural and contextual background of the learner and internal factors related to the
individual learner. Internal factors include the learners‟ attitudes towards the activity, its
intrinsic interest, and the perceived relevance and value of the activity.

Motivation is also influenced by learners‟ sense of agency and feelings of mastery and
control over the learning activity and their interest in it. According to Noels (2001:54), three
psychological needs have to be met in order to enhance motivation: „„(1) a sense of
competency achieved through seeking out and overcoming challenges; (2) autonomy; (3)
relatedness being connected to an esteemed by others belonging to a larger social whole‟‟. To
increase intrinsic ESL motivation, Old father and West (1999) argue that „„a sense of self-
worth‟‟ and „„self-determination‟‟ are essential, and learners need to be given „„ample
opportunities for social interaction and self-expression‟‟. Richards (1993) also mentions
„„personal causation,‟‟ „„interest,‟‟ and „„enjoyment‟‟ as indispensable factors.

2.4 Factors Hindering Students’ Performance in Writing

2.4.1 Challenges of Teaching Practical Competence in EFL Setting
In foreign language context teachers are native and non-native speakers of English language
and they need to be well-prepared for teaching the pragmatic aspect of knowledge of
language. In addition to this fact there are no sufficient, or no course, is offered to teachers
either during pre-service or in-service education programs in the area of pragmatics. This
situation is what El- Okda (2010) calls as „paucity of pragmatic courses in both pre-service
teacher education programs and in-service professional development‟. If the student teachers
or those teachers that are handling the teaching of English language are provided with the
pragmatic courses, „(they) can help their students see the language in context, raise

9
consciousness of the role of pragmatics, and explain the function pragmatics plays in specific
communicative event‟ (Brock and Nagasaka, 2005).
The second pillar in developing the pragmatic competence of learners is ELT material.
Language teaching materials need to frequently include pragmatic materials so as to help
learners develop pragmatic competence, because teachers in EFL settings, where there are
relatively few opportunities for students to use the language in communicative contexts‟
(Brock and Nagasaka, 2005), will make use of textbooks as the major source of pragmatic
knowledge. However, the attempt of including very few mini-dialogues for certain speech
acts and that are contrived and de-contextualized does not help the learners develop their
pragmatic competence or does not represent the reality outside the classroom (El-Okda,
2010:180). Let alone the external environment, „many students do not know how to make
polite requests in English in the classroom‟ (Brock and Nagasaka, 2005).
Teachers in most cases complain for the unmanageable class size. Large classes, limited
contact hours and little opportunity for intercultural communication are some of the features
of the EFL context that hinder pragmatic learning (Eslami-Rasekh et al., 2004; Rose,
1999).Understanding teachers' perceptions and beliefs is important because teachers, heavily
involved in various teaching and learning processes, are practitioners of educational
principles and theories (Jia, Eslami&Burlbaw, cited in Eslami and Fatahi, 2008). Teachers
have a primary role in determining what is needed or what would work best with their
students. Findings from research on teachers' perceptions and beliefs indicate that these
perceptions and beliefs not only have considerable influence on their instructional practices
and classroom behavior but also are related to their students' achievement. In most cases
teachers do not give attention to pragmatic/communicative functions in the classroom.
Omaggio (Martinez-Flor, 2008:165) gives the following three reasons for neglecting
intercultural/pragmatic competence in the language class.

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 CHAPTER-THREE

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION

Introduction
The main purpose of this study, as mentioned in chapter one, is to Assessing Factors
Affecting Students‟ Sentence Writing students‟ performance in writing skill. This chapter
describes the research methods that employed to achieve the main objective of the study. It,
therefore, discusses research design, participants/subjects and their sampling of data
collection instruments, data collection procedures, data analysis and interpretation, validity
and reliability of data gathering instruments, and ethical considerations used in the entire
study.

3.1. Research Design

To undertake this study, descriptive research design applying both quantitative and
qualitative methods was used. Descriptive research describes relationships that exist, beliefs
that are held, effects that are evident, or trends that are developing; it is non-experimental
because it deals with the relationships among non-manipulated variables (Best & Kahn,
2003). Hence, in this research, the descriptive research design employed to make intensive
investigation on teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of students‟ performances on writing
skill.

3.2. Subjects and Their Sampling

The populations of this study include grade 8 students primary school: At Lemi Kura Sub
City Arabsa Primary School.

Table 3.1 Proportion and numbers of students from grade 8A and 8C

Name of Grade 8A & 8C 20% of students English Number of
primary was sample size Language respondents
School Teachers selected in
Teaching Grade 8 the school
8A 8C 8A 8C
Lemi M F T M F T M F M F M F T
Kura 36 22 58 38 25 63 7 4 8 5 2 1 3 24

Total 7 4 8 5 3 27

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Also, ten percent (20%) of the students of the specified grade at each school was chosen
using simple random sampling for easy management of the study. Totally 24 students (11
students from grade 8A and from grade 8C thirteen (13) students were selected from both
classes to study the selected title of my research paper.

3.3. Data Collection Instruments

Student questionnaire and students interview were employed to generate data from the
subjects. Each of them is elaborated next.

3.3.1 Students’ Questionnaire

This instrument asked information from students on their skill about their performance in
writing skills. It has open-ended items asking the students to rate their agreement to different
statements about students‟ writing skill in sentence dealing with feedback on their writing on
five-points Liker Scale (1-Strongly disagree to 5-Strongly agree).
The instruments also contained open-ended items to gather data on factors enhancing or
hindering students‟ writing skills performance. Similar issues assessed in the teacher
questionnaire are addressed in this instrument. The use of similar items and variables in both
the teacher questionnaire and student questionnaire were used to check validity of research
findings and to compare the perceptions of the teachers and students about students‟
performance in writing skill. To minimize the potential of misunderstanding, the
questionnaire was translated into Afan Oromo. The last part of the questionnaire consisted of
open-ended items which were prepared to let students write freely what they felt and
perceived about the student‟s perceptions in writing skills.

3.3.2. Student’s Interview

The purpose of the interview was to gather information about students‟ perceptions and
students‟ performance in writing skills. In order to come up with reasonable explanation and
to enrich the study, un-structured interview was conducted with 4 two from each class).
(Berg, 1989) notes that this type of interview is conducted in “a systematic and reliable order,
but it allows the interviewers to have sufficient freedom; that is, the interviewers are
permitted (in fact expected) to probe far beyond the answers to their prepared and
standardized questions”.

3. 3.3. Teachers’ Interview

The purpose of the interview was to gather information about students‟ performance in
writing skills in English. In order to come up with reasonable explanation and to improve the

12
study, un-structured interview was conducted with 3 teachers. (Berg, 1989) notes that this
type of interview is conducted in “a systematic and consistent order, but it allows the
interviewers to have sufficient freedom; that is, the interviewers are permitted (in fact
expected) to probe far beyond the answers to their prepared and standardized questions”.
The teachers provided on the students‟ performance in planning, practicing and offering
feedback on students‟ writing because they well known or have information from day to day
activities.

3.4. Document Review

It is qualitative and it is a way of collecting data by reviewing existing documents. It is
applied in this study to collect the relevant information from writing instructors who have
document of students‟ task like assignment, quiz, test and final exam on writing course. The
document review used as a primary source for this study because the information related to
this study did not collect by someone.

13
 CHAPTER FOUR

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This section presents the results of data collected through questionnaire from students and
interview discussion. The data are presented under topics: respondents‟ demographic data of
students‟ performance in writing skills.

4.1. Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

Sex Respondents
30

25 24

20
15
15

10 9

0
Male Female Total
Sex Respondents 15 9 24

In this research researcher used 15(62.5%) male students and 9(37.5%) female students from
study school to get vast information on the study title.

Table 4.1 Analysis of Students’ Response Related To Factors That Affect Their Writing
Skills Performance in English in the Study School
No Items Response Frequency Percent
1 Lack of grammar skill Strongly agree 9 37.5
Agree 13 54.16
Undecided 1 4.17
Disagree 1 4.17
Strongly disagree - -
Total 24 100

14
2 Lack of wide reading habit Strongly agree
Agree
Undecided
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Total
3 The difficulty nature of writing Strongly agree
Agree
Undecided
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Total
4 Lack of interest Strongly agree
Agree
Undecided
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Total
Total
5 Lack of deep understanding on the given Strongly agree
writing activities Agree
Undecided
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Total
6 Lack of smooth interaction between Strongly agree
writing instructors and students Agree
Undecided
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Total

15
7 Lack of background knowledge on Strongly agree
writing skill Agree
Undecided
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Total
8 Lack of knowledge on the vocabulary Strongly agree
Agree
Undecided
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Total
Total

Table 4.1.1 from the above collected data the result of each number listed one by one in
the following table (1 to 8)
1 Lack of grammar skill Strongly agree 9 37.5
Agree 13 54.16
Undecided 1 4.17
Disagree 1 4.17
Strongly disagree - -
Total 24 100
As indicated in table 4.1 for first question number 9(37.5%) respondents strongly agreed and
13 (54.16%) respondents agreed that lack of grammar skill is the factor that affects their
writing performance in sentence. However, 1(4.17%) of the respondents were undecided for
lack of grammar skill is the factor that affects their writing performance. The remaining 1
(4.17%) of respondents again disagree but no respondents strongly disagreed that lack of
grammar skill is the factor that affect their writing performance. Therefore, majority of
respondents 37.5% and 54.16% strongly agree and agree or believed that lack of grammar
skill is the factor that affects their writing performance by the finding of this data. So,
researcher concluded that as lack of grammar skill factors that affect students‟ writing
performance in English sentence.

16
Table 4.1.2 Lack of Wide Reading Habit Practice
2 Lack of wide reading habit practice Strongly agree 8 33.34
Agree 14 58.34
Undecided - -
Disagree 1 4.16
Strongly disagree 1 4.16
Total 24 100
From the result revealed that reading habit practice is the factor that affects their writing
sentence performance of students in grade 8. In addition, 14 (58.34%) of respondents agreed
that lack of wide reading habit practice is the factor that affect their writing performance of
students. no (0%) of respondents were undecided that no lack of wide reading habit practice
is the factor that affect their writing performance. However, 1 (4.16%) of respondents
disagreed and also 1 (4.16%) of respondents strongly disagreed that lack of wide reading
habit practice is the factor that affect their writing performance of grade 8 writing skills. So,
majority of respondents were strongly agree and agree that or 22 (91.67%) of respondents
believed that lack of wide reading habit practice is the factor that affects their writing
performance by the analysis of this data and it is a strong factor that affects students‟ writing
performance in sentence.

Table 4.1.3. The Difficulty Nature of Writing

3 The difficulty nature of writing Strongly agree 3 12.5
Agree 4 16.67
Undecided 2 8.33
Disagree 7 29.17
Strongly disagree 8 33.33
Total 24 100
In table 4.1 question number three, 3(12.5%) of respondents strongly agreed and 4 (16.67%)
of respondents agreed that the difficulty nature of writing is the factor that affects their
writing performance skills. In contrast, 2 respondents or 8.33% of the respondents were
replied undecided. But 7 (29.17%) of respondents disagreed and 8 (33.33%) of respondents
strongly disagreed about the difficulty nature of writing is the factor that affects their writing
performance. Therefore, majority of respondents believed that the difficulty nature of writing
is not the factor that affects their writing performance. The interviewed teachers also support
this idea. This implies that the nature of writing is not the factor that affects students‟ writing
performance skills in English.

17
Table 4.1.4. Lack of Interest of Students
4 Lack of interest of students Strongly agree 5 20.84
Agree 15 62.5
Undecided 1 4.16
Disagree 2 8.34
Strongly disagree 1 4.16
Total 24 100
As shown in the above table for question number 4, 5 (20.84%) of respondents said strongly
agree that lack of interest is the factor that affects their writing performance skills. Besides,
15 (62.5%) of respondents said agree that lack of interest is the factor that affects their
writing performance. However, 1 (4.16%) of respondents said undecided. The remaining 2
(8.34%) and 1 (14.16%) of respondents said disagree and strongly disagree respectively.
Thus, majority of respondents stated that lack of interest is the factor that affects their writing
performance skills of grade eight students. Moreover, all the interviewed teachers replied that
lack of interest is a serious factor that affects students‟ writing performance skills. Therefore,
lack of interest is one factor that affects students‟ writing performance by the finding of this
data.

Table 4.1.5. Lack of Deep Understanding

5 Lack of deep understanding on the given Strongly agree 7 29.17
writing activities Agree 11 45.83
Undecided 1 4.16
Disagree 2 8.34
Strongly disagree 3 12.5
Total 24 100
As indicated in the above table for question number 5, 7 (29.17%) of respondents said
strongly agree that lack of deep understanding on the given writing activities is the factor that
affects their writing performance skills of grade 8 students. In addition, 11 (45.83%) of
respondents said agree that lack of deep understanding on the given writing activities is the
factor that affect their writing performance skills. But 1 (4.16%) of respondents said
undecided that lack of deep understanding on the given writing activities is the factors that
affect their writing performance skills. 2 (8.34%) of respondents said disagree and 3 (12.5%)
of respondents said strongly disagree about lack of deep understanding on the given writing
activities is the factor that affects their writing performance skills of grade 8 students at the

18
study area. Therefore, majority of respondents believed that lack of deep understanding on
the given writing activities is the factor that affects their writing performance skills. By this
finding, students did not deeply understand on the topic that given for them, so it is the factor
that affects their writing performance skills.

Table 4.1.6. Lack of Interaction Between Writing Teachers And Students

6 Lack of interaction between writing Strongly agree 6 25
teachers and students Agree 11 45.83
Undecided - -
Disagree 4 16.67
Strongly disagree 3 12.5
Total 24 100
For question number 6 in table 4.1, 6 (25%) of respondents said strongly agree and 11
(45.83%) of respondents said agree that lack of interaction between students and writing
teachers is the factor that affects their writing performance skills. But none respondents said
undecided. Further, 4 (16.67%) of respondents said disagree and also 3 (12.5%) of
respondents said strongly disagree. So, the majority of respondents stated that lack of
interaction between students and their writing teachers is the factor that affects their writing
performance skills. This indicates that lack of interaction between students and teachers is the
factor that affects students‟ writing performance skills in the study school.

Table 4.1.7. Lack of Background Knowledge on Writing Skill

7 Lack of background knowledge on Strongly agree 13 54.17
writing skill Agree 11 45.83
Undecided -
Disagree -
Strongly disagree -
Total 24 100
In table 4.1 for question number 7, 13(54.17%) of respondents strongly agreed and 11
(45.83%) of respondents agreed on lack of lack of background knowledge on writing skill is
the factor that affect their writing performance skills. Nobody said undecided, disagree and
strongly agree. From the data analyzed result revealed that lack of background knowledge is
the factors that affect their writing performance skills. And all interviewed teachers stated
that lack of students‟ background knowledge is also a serious factor that affects students‟

19
writing performance. By this finding, lack of background knowledge is a strong a factor that
affects students‟ writing performance skills in sentence and words.

Table 4.1.8. Lack of Knowledge on the Vocabulary

8 Lack of knowledge on the vocabulary Strongly agree 8 33.35
Agree 15 62.5
Undecided - -
Disagree - -
Strongly disagree 1 4.15
Total 24 100
For question 8 in table 1, 8(33.35%) of respondents preferred strongly agree and 15 (62.5%)
of respondents selected agree that lack of knowledge on the vocabulary is the factor that
affect their writing performance skills. But 1 (4.15%) of respondents said strongly agree.
None of them said undecided and disagree. Therefore, the majority of respondents stated that
lack of knowledge on vocabulary is the factor that affects their writing performance. This
idea also supported by the finding of data from interview.

4.2 Factors Affect Students in Writing Skills

Analysis and Discussion of Students‟ Open-ended Question Please briefly describe if you
have any factors that affect your writing performance. Even though students stated their
response in close ended question, they also tried to describe additional factors that affect their
writing performance skills in open ended question. These are: fear of making mistake and
lack of experience writing skill in English language. They explained that these factors are
strong to affect their writing performance skills. As they described most of the time they did
not like writing due to fear of making mistake. In addition, students explained that English is
not their native language and they did not have a care about writing in English language when
they learned in primary school. This shows that fear of making mistake and lacks of
experience due to the interference of English foreign language are strong factors that affect
their writing performance skills.

4.3 Analysis of Teachers’ Interview Response

To gather reliable information, four teachers were asked the following basic question: 1) Do
you think that writing is difficult for students? What is your reason for your response? From
response to this question, the following inferences were made. From four teachers who are
teaching English Language, one teacher said that writing is not difficult because students start

20
to learn writing as a skill from the elementary school up to know, but the perception of
students towards writing is not good. They consider writing as the most difficult skill.
However, three teachers said that writing is difficult and it needs more practice as it is a
productive skill. By the finding of this data, writing is difficult for students, and students
cannot become effective easily, so it is the factor that affects students‟ writing skills.

2) What are the factors you observe in your students writing? For this question, all three
teachers replied that the factors they observed in their students writing were lack of
background knowledge, lack of interest, lack of vocabulary knowledge, lack of wide reading
habit and lack of grammatical structure knowledge. By this analysis of data, lack of
knowledge on grammatical structure and vocabulary, lack of students‟ interest to wards
writing course, lack of wide reading habit practice and lack of background knowledge are
strong factors that affect students‟ writing performance. Students also support this argument
on the questionnaire. Besides, lack of grammatical structure knowledge and lack of
vocabulary knowledge factors also observed in their written documents like quiz, test,
assignment and final exam.
3) Do you think that students have their own strategies to improve their writing skill?
All teachers said that students have not their own strategies to improve their writing skill and
also teachers said that students did not practice their writing activity through strategy and
students did not have any interest to form strategy for writing. As three teachers replied they
tried to encourage students to use simple strategies like writing the first draft for any given
writing task in English language, revising, editing, and discussing with their own friends. But
students could not accept it. On the other hand, students did not have strategies to improve
their writing skill by the analysis of data from students‟ questionnaire. Thus, students did not
have their own strategies to improve their writing skill by the analysis of data from teachers‟
interview and students‟ questionnaires.
4) What is your practice in giving feedback or comment for students writing? All three
teachers responded for this question that the practices of giving feedback for their students
are both in written and orally. As the teachers said, they give feedback or comment orally for
all students how to correct the errors that made error on their writing task and teachers
responded that they write a comment on the students‟ paper. But students did not have
interest to revise their writing based on the comment and to emphasis their own writing
performance.

21
 CHAPTER FIVE

5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMANDATIONS

5.1 Conclusion
Based on the data analysis and interpretation, the following conclusions have been made.
The study reveals that;
1. Students are unable to practice sentence writing in the class room when they are ordered to
do so by their English teacher. Students‟ interest in sentence writing seems low as they have
made to sentence writing in the class room because they believe that sentence writing lessons
low interest.
2. As it was observed from their notes in the class room, most students full error of to write
words use steps of sentence writing whenever they write a sentence because most students
appeared not use practically these steps of sentence writing. It also suggested that they had no
idea how to organize ideas words, oversee their own work, and revise the written sentences.
3. There is a gap to use in-between words in order to connect words in the sentences.
Similarly, students could not construct meaningful words to make sentences. For example,
error of words and verbs problems is seen (Appendix II).
4. There is also omission or adding extra letters instead of writing proper words in the
sentences. Unable to identify and use proper pronouns, also other problems which are
observed in students‟ sentences analysis (Appendix II).
5. It was clear that English language teachers not devoted and not help the students in order
practice and to improve their sentences writing skills. They could not know (follow) whether
the students write a words correctly or not.
6. They did not help regularly the entire Students according to their errors. They deliberate
giving notes for a few students only.
7. Lack of interest, lack of background knowledge, lack of vocabulary knowledge, fear of
mistake, lack of experience, lack of wide reading habit, lack of grammar skill, and lack of
using different strategies like revising, editing, drafting are the strong factors that affect
students‟ writing performance in writing sentence in English.
8. Lack of interaction between writing teachers and students, focus on spelling, tense and
punctuation than the information of their writing task and lack of deep understanding on the
given writing activities are also other factors that affect students‟ writing performance skills
in school studied.

22
9. If these factors can not eliminate, it cast double on that the future coming students also
may not have a good writing performance skills at high school level and the number of
students in English subject may be decreased due to low performance of writing skills.

5.2 Recommendations
1. English teachers motivate students by giving writing tasks practice sentence writing in the
class room. Students‟ need to know sentences writing is important for communication
purpose as well as future carrier.
2. Teachers encouraging students in order to practice sentence writing because most students
writing performance poor.
3) Teachers should encourage students‟ reading habit because reading is necessary to develop
vocabulary knowledge, to develop grammar knowledge and to develop background
knowledge of writing structure and writing strategies.
4) Students should feel confident while they write because prevention by itself leads them to
commit many errors.
5) The English department should set up special program for writing period when they
teaching give times in order to practice. For example, select one or two day per a week and in
those day students make a hot discussion about everything of writing and students should
write some tasks in group and competing within group each other.
6) Teachers should be openness to faced smooth interaction with students because lack of
interest in writing may become in the cause of lack of smooth interaction between writing
teachers and students. Teachers should clearly introduce the writing topic while they give
writing tasks for students unless students cannot write their writing task accurately and may
not become effective.
7) Teachers should use different methods and techniques to encourage the student‟s
motivation to practice writing performance in English and they should also give immediate
feedback and comments for students writing tasks.
8) When students practice writing English language encourage them in order to minimize fear
of writing in sentences and words.
9) Sentences writing performance skills at primary school bench mark for high school
students for this at second cycle level students in English subject may be increasing their
writing sentences skills.

23
 APPENDIXES I
QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDENTS’
Dear student, the purpose of this questionnaire is to collect data on your writing skills. It is to
gather necessary data for my research conducted for the fulfillment of BA in Teaching
English as a foreign language (TEFL) at Ambo University. Your contribution is highly
important for the success of this study. You are kindly requested to give genuine answers to
questions included. I would like to assure you that the information you provide will be kept
confidential and used only for the research purpose. You don‟t need to write your name.
Thank you in advance for your co-operation!
I. Personal Data Age------------------Sex-------------------Grade------------------------
Indicate the degree of your agreement to the following statements about your writing skill
performance by using the scales: Strongly disagree (SD), Disagree (D), Not decided (ND),
Agree (A), and strongly agree (SA). Please put “X” mark under the choice that corresponds
to your degree of agreement.
No Items Response  Tic before your answer
1 Lack of grammar skill SD
D
ND
A
SA
Total

2 Lack of wide reading habit SD

D
ND
A
SA
Total
3 The difficulty nature of writing SD
D
ND
A
SA
Total
4 Lack of interest SD
D
ND
A
SA
Total

24
5 Lack of reference material related to SD
writing at library D
ND
A
SA
Total
6 Lack of deep understanding on the SD
given writing activities D
ND
A
SA
Total
7 Lack of smooth interaction between SD
writing instructors and students D
ND
A
SA
Total
8 Lack of background knowledge on SD
writing skill D
ND
A
SA
Total
9 Lack of knowledge on the vocabulary SD
D
ND
A
SA
Total
Open-Ended Questions for Teachers
1) Do you think that writing sentence is difficult for students? A) Yes B) No
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. If your answer for question number two is yes what is your reason for your response?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3) Do you think that writing is difficult for students? What is your reason for your response?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4) What are the factors you observe in your students writing?
_____________________________________________________________________

25
5) Do you think that students have their own strategies to improve their writing skill?
_____________________________________________________________________
5) What is your practice in giving feedback or comment for students writing?
_____________________________________________________________________
6. How do you help your students develop their sentence writing skill?

Open Ended Questionnaire for Students

1. What should English language teachers do to help students develop their sentence writing
skills?
2. Do you think that writing sentence is difficult for you? If it is difficult for how can you
improve?
3. Do you have your own strategies to improve your English words and sentence writing
skill?
4. Your English teacher does he/she has plan to helping in writing English words and
sentences? If you agree how and when
5. If you have any additional ideas on this title factors that affect your writing performance
skills in sentence explain it briefly ____________________________

26
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 APPENDIXES II
Writing Practice
The following sentences give for evaluating students writing performance in English.
Hello my name is Abdi Gutu Gemechu.
I am ten years old.
My birthday is on20th of June.
I am tall and thin.
I have short black hair and brown eyes.
I have a small nose.
People tell me that I lovely smile.
There are six people in my family.
My father is an engineer.
His name is Lemi.
My mother is a teacher in my school.
Her name is Hawi.
I have two sisters and one brother.
In school, I enjoy math, Afan Oromo and Chemistry.
In my free time, I play football and basketball.

29
30
31