An Discussion on The Reasons that Writing Skill is Percerived to be a Difficult Language Skill to Master

邱达希

【Abstract】Writing is percerived as very difficult even in the learners first language setting，however，it is more difficult for second language learners in EFL （English as a foreign language） contexts who are not engaged in an English environment or are compelled to use English in daily life （Chaisiri，2010）.In this paper，the perceived difficulty of learning writing will be detailed through a discussion of empirical studies in the skill and its uptake and a brief summary of the features of writing will be included as well.

作者：仲愷农业工程学院  510225

1.Introduction

Writing is often perceived as the most difficult skill to master in a language，as Emig （1983，as cited in Strickland et al.，2001，p.388） states，writing is the most "integrative，originative and creative" in the four skills of listening，speaking，reading and writing.As Pellegrini and Rubin （1984） further note，writing skill is based on the acquirement of the other three skills.Due to the fact that the process of writing development is effected by different factors，both regards to writing itself and individuals，learners cannot acquire writing skill by themselves，and they may need to receive formal education.As Yule （2010，p.212） claim，writing cannot be learned without a "sustained conscious effort".

2.Introduction of writing

According to Grabe and Kaplan （1996），writing is a communication between the writer，and the readers，encompassing the reasons，time，place，and methods of writing as well.As they further state，"Perhaps the best initial way to consider the overall set of concerns involved in writing is to apply an ethnographic approach to our current understanding of writing" （p.203）.As Flower and Hayes （1981） note，producing written work involves three parts： the environment of writing，which refers to the situations and contexts of the writing; the process of writing，how the writing is organized and produced; and the long-term memory of the writer，including the knowledge of the writer with regard to the writing task，readers and a writing plan as well.Based on the discussion above，writing entails details on the situations of writing，contexts of society，cognitions of individuals; and the process is likely about how the writer combines the contents，topic，structures and ideas together into writing （Kellogg，2008）.Accordingly，writing is a complicated process which may causes difficulties for learners to master.Hence，to help learners with their writing skill，it would be significant for teachers and language experts to explore the difficulties faced by language learners surrounding mastering writing.

3.Difficulty of mastering writing skill

First of all，in the development of the four skills，listening，speaking，reading and writing，writing is viewed as the most difficult skill for learners to master as it is “a complex act” （Stein，1986，p.226）.The acquirement of writing skill is based on the development of listening，speaking and reading，which means to acquire writing skill，learners shall acquire the other skills firstly （Pellegrini & Rubin，1984）.As Stein （1986） further suggest，different varieties of knowledge are required during the process of writing，but it is the organization of different contents for writing which is considered the difficulty part for learners，especially for children or EFL learners as the target language they use for writing is not their first language.

Secondly，one of the main difficulties of mastering writing is the way that writing can be acquired.As Brandt （1995） claim，writing skill would be developed better by formal education，while the other skills of listening，speaking and reading may be picked up from daily life more easily.According to BBC News （2007），there are 116 million illiterate people in China，and the percentage is 11.3% in the world.As Liu （2008） further states，80 % of the 116 million illiterate people are in rural areas in China where the people perhaps do not have appropriate educational facilities and there are few opportunities to study in schools.Even though they can communicate with each other verbally and partially literate，they fail to acquire writing skills.

Thirdly，the different motivation of individuals is also a contributing factor which causes writing difficulty （Berninger & Hpper，1993）.As Mothershed （1998） state，writing is not a favorable piece in the jigsaw of learning a language.For example，in China，writing is an essential section in examinations，as in Matriculation English Test，one of the most important examinations in the students life because it decides if they can carry on further study or study in better universities.The writing section is worth 20 % in the whole exam （Lian & Qin，2007）.However，this appears to be the basic motivation of students; to improve their skills in just to complete examinations and to enable them to study in better universities，rather than due to an interest in the language （Yang，2006）.Hence，according to Xiao （2000），the results of students studying in English education in China are seen by some to be less than satisfactory，and writing is still the main problem for Chinese EFL learners.

Moreover，according to Falk （1979），some teachers and learners hold inappropriate views of writing as they believe that if they can acquire the knowledge of grammar and vocabulary，then they can acquire the skill of writing.During the writing lesson，teachers may only pay attention to the grammar，vocabulary，and sentence structures which refer to the product approach instead of a varied and different genre of texts （Hedge，2000）.Hence，learners may fail to connect grammatical knowledge to functional knowledge and not be able to improve their writing skill as a result of these inappropriate teaching methods and learning opinions.

Furthermore，writing strategies can be another factor that causes the difficulty in writing.For example，few teachers of English in China appear to acknowledge that the process of writing is complicated and needs to be “both rhetorically and linguistically appropriate” （Firkins et al.，2007，p.341）.According to Stein （1986），skilled writers spend more time planning writing text，organizing language and combining different kinds of knowledge into the writing，while poor writers only focus on the length of the writing task and fail to adopt the appropritate strategies for writng.

In addition，the difficulties in writing can result from the role of first language transfer. Language transfer，according to Kwon （2006），is the way that an acquired knowledge of a language affects the knowledge and understanding of the new language.If the differences between first language and the second language interfere with the target language，it is considered negative transfer （Saville-Troike，2005）.According to Mohan and Lo （1985，as cited in Gonzalez et al.，2001），during the development of writing，if the knowledge of syntax，lexicon，and discourse in the second language is markedly different from the learners first language，then the learners would experience more difficulties than the learners who have similar language to the second language in writing.

Further accompanying all the problems stated above，the delay in feedback on writing assignment may be another concern in the ESL or EFL writing class.As Li （2006） state，marking writing assignment is time and energy consuming for the teachers，it is considered by many to be unfeasible for teachers to give feedback to all the learners immediately.Hence，some learners may not be able to improve their writing immediately after they finish，as when they receive their feedback for the writing assignment，they may have already forgetten the problems or questions they may have had during the process of writing，and merely discard their feedback on the writing assignment without reading （Li，2006）.

Finally，with the development of new technologies，such as translation applications，people do not need to write for communication as they have done in the past.This reduction in the value of writing competence may reduce motivation on the learners behalf and reduce the opportunities that they have to practice writing as well （Guo，2004）.Nowadays，if people need to communicate，they can make a phone call; send an email via the computer or send a text message from their cell phones.As language and technology develop，the skills of writing has diversifies，and is now different from actually holding a pen and writing on paper （Guo，2004）.A question that is on the minds of researchers and English materials writers is，as the skills changes，how can English teaching keep up and still produce literate students.

4.Conclusion

It is important for a language teacher to understand that the writing skil is a difficult language skill to mater.From the above discussion of the difficulties that learners face when trying to master the skill of writing，different effective approaches to teaching writing shall be applied in the classroom of second language teaching.The teacher needs to be as flexible as possible and use different approaches to support the students needs.In order to achieve effective teaching results，it is necessary to adapt the advantages of the different teaching writing approaches in the lessons.

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