Investigating Linguistic Difficulties Encountered by Sudanese University Freshman In Academic Writing

Abstract

This study attempted to explore the difficulties in academic writing that encounter freshmen in Sudanese tertiary level instructions that use English as a medium of instruction as well as the colleges where students major in English language. The study focused on two main and closely related aspects: (1) Linguistic competence, and (2) meta-linguistic awareness. The study adopted the descriptive methodology. Its population is the entire body of freshmen in Sudanese tertiary level instructions that use English as a medium of instruction as well as the colleges where students major in English language. The sample consisted of 50 students and 30 university teachers. The study used three tools for data collection (1) Linguistic competence test, (2) Meta-linguistic awareness test, and (3) Teachers' questionnaire.Data were treated statistically by using SPSS program. Four statistical techniques were used: (1) Exploring data, (2) One-sample t-test, (3) Computing weighted means, and (4) Correlations. The statistical analysis revealed that the students face difficulties in the two aspects explored. The overall mean score of the students in the linguistic competence test was 15.20, which far below the pass mark. The means of the individual sections ranged between 2.3800 and 3.7000, which are far less than the pass mark. The weighted means showed a unanimous agreement among teachers that the students are weak in linguistic competence. There was also a strong relationship between the teachers' views and the students' performance. As for the meta-linguistic awareness test, the overallmean was 13.82, far below the pass mark. The means of the individual sections ranged between 2.2200 and 3.1200. There is a unanimous agreement among the teachers that the students are weak in their meta-linguistic awareness. The study made some practical recommendations and suggested topics for further research. Keywords freshmen, linguistic competence, meta-linguistic awareness, One-sample t-test, weighted means, correlation.