THE PREFERENCE OF WRITING APPROACH AMONG ESL TEACHER TRAINEES IN PRIMARY EDUCATION

Abstract

Deterioration in the command of English language among Malaysian students has been discussed far and wide. English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers strive to adopt and adapt various strategies to customize lessons, particularly the writing lessons to enable students to write in English. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the writing instructions practised by the teacher trainees in selected ESL primary classrooms in Malaysia. The study scrutinized the details of the two writing approaches used with regard to the product approach and process approach. Ten teacher trainees were selected using the purposive sampling method. A mixed-method design was employed. The participants were observed using an observation checklist and interviewed. The data were analyzed using Rasch Measurement Model and thematic analysis. It was found that the Product Approach was preferred to the Process Approach due to its practicality in the application. The strategies of the Process Approach were found to be useful but the participants were unable to apply them rampantly due to time, institutional and pedagogical factors. Thus, this study recommends that educational intuitions and policymakers focus on more sophisticated writing strategies and approaches to enhance the writing abilities among students to cultivate independent writing skills and habits.