Abstract:
Academic writing remains a significant challenge for students in higher
education, particularly in non-native English-speaking contexts. This study
investigates the academic writing skills of second-year students enrolled in
the tertiary education at selected Advanced Technological Institute (ATI) with
a focus on identifying key difficulties and their pedagogical implications. A
mixed-method approach was employed, incorporating both quantitative
and qualitative data collection techniques to ensure methodological rigor.
In this study, twenty-five second-year second semester students pursuing
tertiary education were randomly chosen for investigation. A structured
questionnaire (Google Form) was administered to gather students’ self
reported perceptions, challenges and errors in academic writing. Moreover,
the questionnaire focused on gathering students’ opinions regarding the
effectiveness of Lecturers’ pedagogical instruction of the contents in academic
and professional writing skills in the second-year second semester curriculum.
Thematic analysis was applied to qualitative data, while quantitative responses
were statistically analyzed. The findings reveal that 72% of students struggle
with fundamental academic writing conventions, including coherence,
grammatical accuracy, and formal vocabulary usage. Additionally, 75%
of students reported difficulty in completing writing tasks, largely due to
insufficient prior exposure to academic writing and inadequate instructional
support. The study identifies pedagogical gaps in the curriculum, including
a lack of structured academic writing instruction, insufficient scaffolding of
writing tasks, and minimal formative feedback. These findings underscore
the need for curriculum enhancements, including targeted academic writing
interventions, explicit instruction on writing conventions, and increased
opportunities for formative assessment. This study contributes to the broader
discourse on academic writing pedagogy by providing empirical insights into
the challenges faced by tertiary education students and proposing pedagogical
interventions to enhance academic writing proficiency. Future research
should explore intervention-based strategies and longitudinal improvements
in students’ writing skills.
