Challenges of Teaching Academic Writing Skills in ESL Classroom (Based on International Teaching Experience)

Abstract

The painstaking effort to teach academic writing skills to EFL/L2 students is rewarding when learners are aware of the need to improve their English language skills and gain the mastery of key academic genres required both for their academic and professional life. The majority of Western communities/employers first evaluate novice specialists by their writing ability: CVs, statement of purpose, personal statement, cover letter, etc. This article draws a modest comparative analysis of approaches to teaching academic writing skills in European universities (Ukrainian and Slovak) based on personal experience; it makes an attempt to engrasp key principles of teaching some challenging aspects of academic writing skills in European university classroom, highlights most common students„ mistakes, and ways of avoiding them. The purpose of this study has been to identify the most challenging writing aspects for L2 learners, mainly a range of Ukrainian and Slovak EFL students. To do so, the most frequent errors of the students‟ essays were collected and analysed based on language study discrepancies, which affect L2 learners‟ acquisition of literacy of the target language. The most palpable gaps appear in register and punctuation fields of the students‟ knowledge, which implies an application of powerful tools to deal with these errors.