Investigating Strategies that Support Learners’ Participation in Writing Tasks

Mayonghe Melanie Kesiki

10.23350/eltcrj.225

Abstract

Teaching writing to students in an EFL context like Cameroon where French is a dominant language, has always been a daunting task for teachers. This difficulty does not only reside with teachers but also translates to the students and has had a negative effect on their motivation and attitude towards English. This has affected their attitudes towards writing activities in general. This recurrent problem led me to carry out this study which is aimed to investigate strategies that can support learners to participate in writing tasks in the classroom and during summative assessments.

This study employed an exploratory research method to investigate the reasons behind students’ reluctance to participate in writing tasks. Through the use of questionnaires and informal discussions with students, the research revealed several key factors contributing to this difficulty. Specifically, students cited the following as major obstacles; a lack of adequate vocabulary, topics that failed to cover their areas of interest, severe grading methods whereby the teacher focused more on students’ errors and used the red pen abusively, and also inadequate feedback from the teachers.

To address these challenges, targeted strategies were implemented, including collaborative writing and pre-writing activities. The effectiveness of these strategies was recorded through weekly journaling and observation. Notably, collaborative writing and pre-writing had a profoundly positive impact on student engagement. By adopting these approaches, the study demonstrates a potential for teacher-led interventions to enhance student participation and writing outcomes.

Keywords

collaborative writing; pre-writing; feedback; engagement; brainstorm; group work; strategies

How to cite (APA)

Kesiki, M. M. (2025). Investigating strategies that support learners’ participation in writing tasks. ELT Classroom Research Journal, 2(2), 65–79. https://doi.org/10.23350/eltcrj.225

 

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