The Effective Impact of Writing Practice on Learning Foreign Language in Term of Grammar:
Acquisition & developing
Omyma Khalfallah
Foreign Language Faculty
44.06.01: Education and Pedagogical Sciences
Prof. Olga V. Nagel
17 ͭ ͪ November, 2023
National Research Tomsk State University, 36, Lenin Ave., Tomsk, 634050, Russia
Abstract:
Concerning the writing skill as a path to open the gate to other skills it provides the critical thinking in English to go step by step in teaching and trying to
understand the learners until they become capable to self-teaching, discover their language errors so to be mistakes, and try to solve their problems. Thus, the
present study aims to help both teacher and language learners to find their common language pitfalls in term of grammar through testing writing skill. In this
research, two research instruments were used, a Student’s Questionnaire and a Student’s Writing Assignment addressed to the advanced ones to analyze their
progress in producing the language and discover their common questions through correcting a writing assignment.
I. Introduction:
Dealing with the foreign language learning as an acquiring process means that we deal with such language as a passive one. Many debates
were devoted in order to differentiate between both processes, learning and acquisition. Unfortunately, although the more investigations that
have been done for same goal to clarify and understand how does the mind perceive the foreign language, still have unclearness in the
understanding of so process where ideas are getting forked. In that research, considering the foreign language learning operation as an
acquiring one in the process of sorting out the psychological filter, which is the most barrier that the language learners may face. Thus, the
purpose of this study is to clarify how could writing practice affects the learning of foreign language considering the grammatical part as an
essential focus.
the writing skill concrete the language learning and it is considered a significant part in learning any foreign language regardless to what
language is target, it is a means to communicate, illustrate and transfer ideas in numerous fields. Teaching of writing has experienced a
revolution in which reading is integrated and debates were born about how to learn and assess the individual’s writing competence,
considering it crucial that goes through refining learners into levels to achieve the proficiency. Students who have learned different language
elements may be blocked using and applying them in different real-life situations where writing takes a place. Hence, the learning styles and
teaching approaches differ whereas writing problems are numerous i.e.: Grammar, Coherence, Cohesion, Etc.
The scope to study language learner’s obstacles is narrowed based on the level of mastering the language where even a master cannot hide
the truth of still experience language pitfalls. The most notable issues are sensed and discovered when reading pieces and then demonstrated
in writing to arrange ideas, since it is a productive skill (communication and writing). In the present study, the focus is on grammatical
complications of the advanced category to start with discovering the most reason that put them fail in language pitfalls to affect their learning
improvement and citing what are the common difficulties.
Since the issues of language learning are various and varied, the current research has tried to set problems in hypotheses statements to
check their validity by adopting an exploratory case study for the sake of discovering these grammatical questions that are encountered by
the advanced language learners. These collected qualitative and quantitative data to boost the hypotheses are gathered through two research
instruments namely: the questionnaire that has been distributed in the private school to the advanced learners besides a writing assignment
that was corrected according to a narrative scoring guide. The collected data will be analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively.
The present study entails into theoretical and methodological door. The closing one adopts the practical part to make use the hypotheses,
while the former treats many concepts in same vein focus more on most notions in bold to be defined and be straightforward.
Broca’s & Wernicke’s Areas¹: Both areas are located in brain where respectively associated with understanding, producing and controlling the speech.
Nurture & Nature: Are two factors that influence the acquisition of language in which nurture is the genetic effects while the nature is the environmental one.
Omyma khalfallah/ Educational &Pedagogical Sciences, National Research Tomsk State University. 2
II. Grammar acquisition:
The most inquiries between psychologists were pointed out on do we already born with innate language centers in our brain to understand
language or whether language is completely depends on learning. The point here is that the grammar is a science itself, as it is an organized
system including parts of sub-systems, which could be improved through both genetic and environmental influences, where nature and
nurture effects work interchangeably. Indeed, human beings without mental issues have been born with a brain of various areas accompanied
by different functions to perceive, analyze, understand and react to the new and the incoming information. Otherwise, the environmental
effects could be entailed into two parts that are: direct and indirect effects. Where the last, it is the combination between the perception and
production skills, reading and communication, whereas the former is about the direct instruction that the human may receive during the
learning process. In conclusion, the acquisition of grammar is based on Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas¹ to understand, conduct and produce
the different grammatical rules and parts. As the nature of human beings is to understand any science, considering the grammar is similar to
any science such as: Physics, Biology, Chemistry…etc. in which the nurture² influences can be take place in the acquisition process directly
or indirectly, stating these both areas as muscles that need a training by practice.
III. Situation analysis:
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “The private school is a school that is established, conducted, and primarily
characterized by a non-governmental agency”. To declare that the private school is an establishment characterized by the private property
of one person or a particular group, so the present study is accomplished in the named MBIM M’sila private school that deals with the
English language as a general language like any private school to language teaching where they concentrate on the oral and speaking skill
providing the learners the opportunity to express their emotions and thoughts in term of facing the language and gain vocabularies in
different real life situation as much as possible.
In accordance to linguists, even though they differ to give the exact meaning of language, they work in with the definition the “ the
language is a system of vocal signs with an internal structure and used for the purpose of human communication”. Again, the concept
of language does not stand for merely one definition in linguistics in which it is split up into other definitions; Ferdinand de Saussure said
that: “the language is a borderland between thought and sound, where thought and sound combine to provide communication ” to
mean that the language is the bride between our ideas and producing them shape a correct communication, Noam Chomsky has believed that:
“the language is the inherent capability of native speakers to understand and form grammatical sentences” which means that we as
native speakers of a specific language we already born with a slice that allows as to understand our words and reply by forming sentences in
a correct grammar unconsciously, which happened in two-way operation within a comprehensive area (Figure1), also in a linguistic context,
the linguist Leonard Bloomfield has defined that the language as: “the totally of the utterances that can be made in a speech community”
where he defines the language as an utterance considering is as form (grammar) not a meaning to be understood by the people in a specific
Comprehension Comprehension
Area.1 Area.1 Receiver-
Transmitter- Transmitter
Receiver Channel –
Code Decode
Airwaves/
Interpreter Interpreter
Decode Light waves
Code
society.
Figure 1: The Different Roles of the Communication Elements
In nutshell, however, there are much of definitions to language that differs from country to country and it is affected from culture to
another, it takes the same place role which is to share ideas and being in touch within a producing square.
IV. Methodology:
A. Research Instruments:
Omyma khalfallah/ Educational &Pedagogical Sciences, National Research Tomsk State University. 3
A survey besides a writing assignment were stapled at one another and distributed as one to confirm the responses of the questionnaire,
between answering and facing the language, for two classes of twenty foreign language learners that have been classed in advanced level of
proficiency to formulate a theory that based on grammatical problems that people may not give an attention for exploratory purposes.
B. Data Analysis:
The gathered data from the retrieved questionnaire and assignment of writing were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed.
a. Learner’s questionnaire analysis:
The following questions have been a part of the survey of two rubrics for the sake to know indirectly the powerful effects of practicing
writing on producing correct grammar, which is a result of practicing reading, through discovering the much they practice it.
1/ How many times do you practice writing?
This question is written to find out the frequency of learners to practice writing, following up the question with choices as it is a multiple-
choice question, which are: every day, once a week, rarely, and only when asked to. Responses are demonstrated below:
10%
10% Everyday
Once a
55% Week
25% Rarely
Only When Asked to
Figure 2: Frequency of Writing Practice
From the above figure, they revealed that most learners 55% said that they practiced the writing only when asked, whereas 25% of
learners answered by ‘rarely’, and whilst ‘everyday’ and ‘once a week’ were equal by the percentage of 10%.
3/ If you see that your writing skill is in progress, are you interested in reading?
For those students whose writing skills were in progress, they were asked about their interest in reading and so to know whether the
reading process affected the performance of writing to follow the progress of learners output, and confirm that a good reader is a fluent
language producer (speaking and writing) to make it up to use. The responses are summarized in the following figure:
Yes No
40%
60%
Figure 3: Learners’ Interest in Reading.
From the above results seen in the figure1, most students were interested in reading where it covers 60% from the whole, while 40%
shapes who were not interested in reading.
Omyma khalfallah/ Educational &Pedagogical Sciences, National Research Tomsk State University. 4
4/ What is the main problem that you have faced in writing?
This question was designed to precise and get narrowed the circle of problems that may face the foreign language learners by providing
the most common and end it by ‘Other’ to give the opportunity to learners for expressing their problems.
Difficulty to Start Find the Right Words Grammar Errors
Spelling Ideas Ordering Other
9% 15%
15%
15%
21%
25%
Figure 4: Learner’s Problems
From the above, the results revealed that the most common difficulty stated by learners were the grammar errors which occupies 25% of
the total area of weakness; while spelling shapes 21% of learners; noting that difficulty to start takes 15% of them in addition to other
percentages marked equal, which are lack of vocabulary and ideas ordering take up the space of 15%. There are some learners who asserted
that there were other problems namely, using proverbs, punctuation, and being out of the topic.
b. Learner’s Assignment Analysis:
The learners were asked to write a short piece in which they give their opinions about the definition of success mentioned in a prompt and
provided the songwriter and singer Bob Dylan’s definition of success. The retrieved shifts were analyzed and corrected according to the
following narrative table:
Table 1: Personal Narrative Scoring Guide
N.B: 5pts for each Criteria, 1,25pts for each Colon.
Omyma khalfallah/ Educational &Pedagogical Sciences, National Research Tomsk State University. 5
The above narrative table shows the assignment’s correction path that is summarized in the table below for twenty students:
Table 2: Learner’s Grades
To clarify more, the learner’s different problems are illustrated in the following Bar Graph:
No Assessable Failure Poor Minimal Good Excellent
Language Pass
Learners' Notes
Figure 3: Learner’s Different Notes
The above results resume the Students’ Notes (No Assessable language, Failure, Poor, Minimal Pass, Good, and Excellent). It
demonstrates that the majority of learners are scored with Poor, No Assessable Language and Minimal Pass are equal with six learners, five
learners graded by minimal pass, and four ones by good while failure and excellence have no results.
C. Results Interpretation & Discussions:
as seen earlier there are two research instruments were applied in this study where each of them affects the research in general and the
methodological part in specific to build a scientific research based on facts and obtained real results.
This study was conducted on asking two research questions on the main reason that leads to face the language pitfalls and the common
problems of language still language learners have, trying to answer this question by posing a hypothesis which denotes that effectively the
lack of practicing the language leads to blocking when facing the foreign language and still affects the development of grammar. For those
who practice writing frequently they perceive that their writing skill in progress because they are interested in reading so they do not face any
kind grammatical question or spelling errors when producing the language in contrast to those who are not practice the reading have
difficulties to write effectively and many problems they do face where the grammar takes the large part. Thus, both hypotheses were
Omyma khalfallah/ Educational &Pedagogical Sciences, National Research Tomsk State University. 6
confirmed.
V. Conclusion:
The frequently practice of writing tasks does affect the development of grammar as the results show that the writing effectively was born
from the continual practice with no need to learn it individually and separately. Additionally, according to what discussed, the main language
complications were about grammar and spelling to mean that even the circle of problems get narrowed over the learning course, the
grammatical issues still exist.
This study is conducted based on previous research. Moreover, it is a supported piece to build other theory to understand the perception
and the development of grammar as it is an integral part for all the language skills.
References:
Bloomfield, L. (1983). An Introduction to the Study of Language. H. Holt and Company. New-York City, America.
Catherine, W., Michael, S. (2011). Oxford English Grammar Course. Oxford university press, England.
De Saussure, F. (1966). Course in General Linguistics (Edited by Charles, B and Albert, S. Translated by Wade,B). New York, Toronto, London: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Douglas, H. (2003) Language Assessment, Principles and Classroom Practices. Sanfransisco State University. California.
Michael, S. G. (2009). The Cognitive Neurosciences (4 ͭ ͪ ed.). The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England.
Noah, W. Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage. Merriam Webster Inc., Publishers Spring Field, Massachusetts, London England.
Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht, Holland, & Cinnaminson, NJ : Foris.
Omyma, k. (2023). Advanced Language Learners’ Difficulties in Writing: Case of MBIM M’sila Private School. [Master’s Thesis, Abou Baker Belkaid University]. PQDT
Open. [Link]
