Developing and applying methods of teaching writing skills to high school students

Abstract

Writing as a productive skill requires application of the correct writing methodology. This study aims at investigating the problem of the declining standard of grade three -Saudi students in the writing skill at female governmental secondary schools in Al Madinah Al Monawarah. As second language learners, these students face the greatest challenges in writing skills. The study also tries to find some solutions that help to improve this skill. To achieve the aims of the study, the researcher tried to detect the practices of the teachers in the ELT class. To collect the required information for this study, the teachers and the students’ questionnaires were designed. Added to that an interview for experts. The questionnaires were answered by 20 teachers and 65 students at five schools. The data was analyzed by the Statistical Package of the Social Science (SPSS). Results presented in the fourth chapter. Most of those results matched the hypotheses of the research. In other words, correct techniques of prewriting, editing, corrections and feedback are not followed by teachers and students in writing class. Consequences of inaccurate practices of teachers and students were confirmed by the observations of the supervisors who answered the interview. To promote performance of teachers and students in this skill, the researcher recommended some practical applications based on new approaches to ELT of the writing skill.