An Assessment of the Written Performance of Sudanese EFL University Learners – A Communicative Approach to Writing

Abstract

The study investigates the written performance of the Sudanese EFL students. The study aims to assess the written texts produced by the students in order to find out how successful they are in their use of writing as a mechanism through which meaning is communicated. To achieve the aim of the study, the researcher employs the analytic descriptive method. The subjects of the study consist of 65 Sudanese EFL teachers drawn from some Sudanese universities and 240 fourth level students who are taking English as their major in five Sudanese universities. Three tools were used for data collection: writing test, two questionnaires (one for the teachers and the other for the students) and an interview with the students. By using the statistical program SPSS, the study has revealed that Sudanese EFL students do not possess the ability to cope with the different modes of writing. This makes them unable to develop an understanding of how to employ the linguistic, cultural and social knowledge to develop an idea into a meaningful and comprehensive written text. The study has also shown that students are not able to depend on the strategies of writing so that they can produce texts which stimulate readers and keep their attention. Furthermore, the study has revealed that the students are not prepared to benefit from their v teachers and peers while they are writing; they never ask for advice or any clarification but do their writing individually. Moreover, the study has reached the conclusion that the students’ inability to know what the readers know and what they want is one of the factors that lead students to produce less informative written texts. The study has concluded that the poor communicative competence the students possess stems from different factors: (1) the instruction the students receive in writing does not revolve around the issues that enable them to develop their abilities as writers, (2) the students are not motivated enough to exert efforts and seek opportunities to engage into deliberate writing and intensive reading so that they can promote their writing abilities, (3) the environment in which writing is done do not enhance and foster students' ability to create writing which is sophisticated and communicative in nature, (4) teachers also do not encourage these students to view writing as a mechanism through which meaning is negotiated, and (5) the sorts of feedback these students receive on their writing do not contribute to the development of students' writing proficiency. To help the students develop their writing skills, teachers should help the students be knowledgeable about the different modes of writing and be knowledgeable about the lexical and grammatical structures required by each mode. Teachers also need to help the students develop the linguistic skills vi ‫‪they need in the process of writing so that they can‬‬