International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

Is There A Relationship Between Rhetorical Problems And Writing Process

Open access

Fatimah Azzahra Md Raus, Melissa Malik, Nur Natasha Eliana Abdul Rahim, Ahmad Rusidy Rosly, Sharon Lim Sui-Lin, Noor Hanim Rahmat

Pages 466-485 Received: 10 Aug, 2023 Revised: 13 Sep, 2023 Published Online: 15 Oct, 2023

http://dx.doi.org/10.46886/IJARBSS/v13-i10/8123
ESL and EFL writers encounter all sorts of writing difficulties, also known as rhetorical problems and these are encountered each time a writer embarks on a writing task. It is vital to further understand how ESL writers perceive these rhetorical problems because each writer may respond differently to these problems. The study sought to explore the perception of learners on rhetorical problems in writing and the writing process. In addition, the study also sought to identify the relationship between rhetorical problems and the writing process. The data was collected through the administration of a 5 Likert-scale quantitative survey and is rooted from Flower & Hayes (1980) and Petric & Czalf’s (2003). The survey includes four sections namely ‘writing difficulty’, ‘before writing’, ‘while writing’ and ‘when revising’. 125 of ESL learners from three public universities responded to this survey. The study found out that majority of the respondents agreed that writing is difficult due to the needs of long-term memory usage. Most respondents also prefer to revise the requirements of the task before writing and write the introduction first before continuing to complete the task during ‘when writing stage’. Checking their essay for task fulfilment is the most preferred strategy when revising their writing task. On one hand, correlation analysis indicates that there is a low significant correlation between rhetorical problems and translating. The correlation analysis also shows a strong positive relationship between translating and reviewing. Overall, findings suggest that university students are mainly concerned with the task fulfilment and this is continuously reflected in their choice of writing strategies. Future research should look at how learners gain their background knowledge and the sources of information they prefer. In conclusion, the teaching and learning of writing should also incorporate the latest technology in order to capture learners’ attention and boost their motivation.
Bui, H.P., Nguyen, L. T, & Nguyen, T. V. (2023). An investigation into EFL pre-service
teachers’ academic writing strategies, Heliyon. 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13743.
Derakhshan, Ali & Shirejini, Roghayeh. (2020). An Investigation of the Iranian EFL
Learners’ Perceptions Towards the Most Common Writing Problems. SAGE Open. 10. 1-10. 10.1177/2158244020919523.
Fareed, Muhammad & Ashraf, Almas & Bilal, Muhammad. (2016). ESL Learners' Writing
Skills: Problems, Factors and Suggestions. Journal of Education and Social Sciences. 4. 81-92. 10.20547/jess0421604201.
Flower and Hayes (1981). A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing. College Composition and
Communication , 365-387. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.2307/356600

Grabe, W. & Kalan, R. (1996). Theory and practice of writing. London: Addison Wesley
Longsman.

Graves, D. (1983). Writing: Teachers and Children at Work. Heinemann Educational Books

Hedge, T. (1988). Writing. Oxford University Press.

Ibrahim Mohamed Alfaki. (2015). University students’ English writing problems: Diagnosis
and remedy. International Journal of English Language Teaching. 3(3), 40-52.

Jackson,S.L. (2015). Research methods and Statistics-A Critical Thinking Approach (5tH Edition). Boston, USA: Cengage Learning.

Laksmi, E. D. (2006). “Scaffolding” students’ writing in EFL class: Implementing process
approach. TEFLIN Journal. 17(2), 144-156.

Moses, R. N. & Mohamad, M. (2019). Challenges faced by students and teachers on writing
skills in ESL contexts: A literature review. Creative Education, 10. 3385-3391. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2019.1013260

Muhammad Fareed, Almas Ashraf & Muhammad Bilal. (2016). ESL learners’ writing skills:
Problems, factors and suggestions. Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 4.2.1


Nhung, N. (2023). A Study on Writing Strategies used by Students of Different
Levels of Proficiency at A University in Vietnam. International Journal of Social Science and Human Research. 06. 10.47191/ijsshr/v6-i5-25.
Nur Amalina Jaafar Siddek & Hanita Hanim Ismail. (2021). Understanding learners’
difficulties in narrative writing among Malaysian primary learners. Asian Journal of Research in Education and Social Sciences, 3(2), pp. 244-255.

Petric, B., & Czalr, B. (2003) Validating a Writing Strategy Questionnaire. Science Direct,
31(2), pp 187-215.
Rahmat, N.H .(2020). An Investigation of Writers’ Block through Rhetorical Situation.
European Journal of English Language Teaching, 5(3), pp 1-14.
Raoofi, S., Binandeh, M., & Rahmani, S. (2017). An investigation into writing strategies and writing proficiency of university students. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 8(1), 191.
Sulfiana, F.,. Kurniawati, N., & Nurwanti, D.I. (2021). Indonesian EFL students writing
anxiety in post-pandemic online classroom context : A survey. International Journal of Research on English Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 2 (2). pp. 26-36.
Tompkins, G. E. (1994). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. Macmillan
Publishing Company