A Comparison of ESL Writing Strategies of Undergraduates and Postgraduates

Abstract

Writing is an essential skill that needs to be mastered by students. They need to adopt some strategies in order to be a good writer, especially in fulfilling their academic requirements. This study attempts to compare the writing strategies used by undergraduate and postgraduate students. A total of 44 students participated in this study. A survey questionnaire adapted from Flower and Hayes (1981) framework was administered to the respondents. Analysis of strategies based on three factors namely task environment, background knowledge and composing process was used. The t-test results showed that there was no significant difference between the mean response of undergraduate and postgraduate students. In task environments, the undergraduate students were found to choose topic that they know while the postgraduate students tend to choose a topic that they like. Both groups tend to use their schemata or background knowledge in order to write. Furthermore, findings from composing process showed that both groups tend to have a proper plan such as a mind map or an outline to write an essay.