1.
Introduction
1.1 Rationale
Writing skill is one of the most important skills for English-major students at University because
not only is writing an academic lesson, but it is also a crucial skill that translates into any career
field. However, many sophomores at Hue University of Foreign Languages and International
Studies are not aware of the importance of writing skill and the number of them who are
successful in this writing skill is too small. In addition, there are also a lot of mistakes in writing
skill.
This comes from the less concentration on writing skill in most sophomores .
This research mainly concentrates on the problems that sophomores often have in writing class,
the reasons that lead to these problems and useful ways to help them overcome these problems.
1.2 Research Aims
This research aimed to investigate problems in the writing essays of English-majored
sophomores at Hue University of Foreign Languages and International Studies . Thanks to
recognizing their own problems, they are able to find some suitable solutions forthemselves
1.3 Research Questions
1. What are the common problems that English-majored Sophomores at Hue University of
Foreign Languages and International Studies face in writing class ?
2. What are the useful ways for English-major Sophomores at University of Foreign Languages
and International Studies, Hue University to overcome these problems ?
2.Literature review
Writing problems among sophomores have been a topic of concern for educators and
researchers for many years. This literature review aims to provide an insight into the
primary writing problems faced by sophomores and the various strategies that have been
developed to address these writing problems.
One of the issues faced by sophomores is the lack of prior knowledge about vocabulary,
grammar, social experiences and knowledge. Many students struggle to some problems like
they don't know express their ideas and identify the keywords. This problem lead to
compounded by a lack of understanding of grammar and sentence structure, which can result
in incorrect punctuation, syntax errors, and awkward phrasing. According to research
conducted by Phuong at Tay Do University (2022), she had conducted survey on 50 students
(3 males and 47 females) by questionaire and interview and she found that 32.5 percent of
students that agree with they had problems of prior knowledge.
Another common writing problem among sophomores is a lack of ideas organization in their
writing. Students often struggle to organize their thoughts and ideas in a logical and
coherent manner, resulting in poorly structured papers that lack a clear focus. This can be
especially problematic when writing longer research papers or essays, where a clear
structure is essential for conveying ideas effectively. According to Phuong (2022), thirty-six
percent of students agreed that they have problems in oranizing ideas.
In addition, Sophomores also struggle with the lack of time in writing Many students find it
challenging to make outline and write for short time, This can result in papers that lack
depth and fail to provide a persuasive argument.
3.Previous scientific studies
In the process of conducting this research, I got 2 previous scientific studies that supported
and were also my rationales to carry out the study. Those authors had the same goal in
finding writing difficulties of students or university students andthey achieved success with
their aims
Firstly, Phuong (2022) was the most effective of the authors towards my reseach. The topic of
Phuong’s research was “ DIFFICULTIES IN STUDYING WRITING OF ENGLISH-
MAJORED SOPHOMORES AT A UNIVERSITY IN VIETNAM” The participants in her study
were the English-majored sophomores at Tay Do University, Viet Nam. Her instruments were
questionnaires and interviews. They had written difficulty questionnaire, student interview form
and teacher interview form. After finishing the research, she indicated the difficulties of English
majored sophomores could belong to two main reasons. The first factor was lacked of prior
knowledge about vocabulary, grammar, social experiences and knowledge. In addition, they
sometimes lacked of great motivation and feeling to study well. The second factor belonged to
other elements such as the facilities, the study environment, the weather and limited time.
Secondly, Lanh, Dung, Kha (2022) were lecturer from Tay Do University. Their topic research
was bout “SOME COMMON PROBLEMS IN WRITING ESSAYSOF ENGLISH MAJORED
SOPHOMORES AT A UNIVERSITY IN THE MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM” . In Their’s
study, the participants were 85 english-majored sophomores ( 27 males and 58 females) at Tay
Do University ,Viet Nam. The instruments were questionnaire and interview . After finishing the
study, they identified some common issues that students suffer like problems about knowledge
branches, including grammar, vocabulary, and style; idea arrangement; and additional
problems consisting of background knowledge, learners’ anxiety, mechanics, references, and
time management.
