ABSTRACT

The ability to write competently is a major part of language development and academic success at every level of education. Yet many secondary school students find it hard to master essay writing, and national examination results in English suggest that the difficulty is widespread. This study investigated the challenges that students face in learning essay writing skills in English language in secondary schools in Oyo State, Nigeria. Its specific objectives were to determine the methods that teachers use to teach essay writing, to investigate the challenges students face in learning it, and to establish the strategies that students use to learn it. The study was guided by the process-genre approach to teaching writing proposed by Badger and White (2000). A descriptive survey design was used. The target population comprised English language teachers and senior secondary school students in Oyo State. Stratified random sampling and purposive sampling were used to select 180 students and 10 teachers of English from 10 of the 26 public secondary schools. Data were collected with a student questionnaire, a teacher interview schedule and an essay writing test. The instruments were validated through a pilot study and expert review. Quantitative data were analysed with frequencies, percentages and means, and qualitative data were analysed thematically. The findings showed that the methods most commonly used by teachers are lecture, question and answer, and teacher demonstration, while group work, peer teaching and role play, which are known to support writing development, were the least used. The main challenges that students face are inadequate content mastery, incorrect use of grammar, first language (L1) interference, limited vocabulary and inadequate teaching and learning resources. Most students also did not frequently use interactive learning strategies. The study concluded that the teaching methods and learning strategies used by teachers and students influence how second language (L2) writing is learned. Recommendations are made for curriculum developers, policy makers and teachers on how to address these challenges.

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the background to the study, the statement of the problem, the objectives, the research questions, the significance of the study, the scope and limitations, and the theoretical framework that guided the study.

1.2 Background to the Study

The ability to write well is a central part of communicative competence and one of the main foundations of academic success. Students must produce written work in many forms, including essays, summaries and reports, and their results in most subjects depend on how well they can express ideas in writing. Writing is also useful beyond school, since it supports personal development and performance in later professional settings.

At the same time, writing is widely regarded as the hardest language skill to acquire, whether in a first, second or foreign language. It is not picked up naturally through exposure to the language in the way that speech often is. It must be taught and practised in formal instruction, and it requires the writer to handle vocabulary, grammar, organisation of ideas and the conventions of written English at the same time, in order to communicate with a reader who is not present. Writing may be divided into functional writing, such as letters, reports, notices and speeches, and creative or expository writing, such as narratives, descriptions and arguments. Basic writing skills include legible handwriting, correct spelling and punctuation, while advanced skills include organising ideas logically, using grammar correctly and expressing ideas in an original way. A well-written essay stays on the topic, follows a clear pattern of organisation, develops its points with supporting examples and appropriate vocabulary, and observes the conventions of standard written English.

In Nigeria, English is the official language and the language of instruction at all levels of education, and it is learned and taught as a second language. Students' achievement in English and in most other subjects is assessed in writing, and English draws on the related skills of listening, speaking and reading. The English language curriculum for secondary schools treats writing as an advanced skill and expects teachers to integrate it with the other language skills, so that, for example, literature texts and class readers become sources of vocabulary, models of good language use and topics for writing tasks. In practice, however, many students do not reach the expected level.

Recent evidence shows continuing concern about performance in English at the secondary certificate level. According to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the share of candidates who obtained credit passes in at least five subjects including English Language and Mathematics was 79.81% in 2023 (allAfrica, 2025) and 72.12% in 2024, falling to 62.96% in 2025 after a grading error was corrected, out of 1,969,313 candidates (BusinessDay, 2025). These figures combine English with Mathematics and do not isolate essay writing, but they show that a large proportion of candidates still fail to meet the benchmark for admission to tertiary education.

Studies of student writing in Nigeria point to specific problems. David and Animashaun (2024) analysed essays written by 100 senior secondary school students in five schools in Ondo State and categorised errors in grammar, vocabulary, syntax and cohesion, and they called for tailored interventions to improve students' writing. Language background is another factor. In a study of two public secondary schools in Ibadan North, Oyo State, Akinsola and Olaosebikan (2019) found that the sound system of students' first language, Yoruba, negatively influenced their articulation of English sounds, which suggests that first language interference may also affect students' use of English more generally.

Teaching methods may also play a part. Approaches that treat writing only as a finished product, or that rely mainly on lecturing and teacher demonstration, give students few chances to plan, draft, receive feedback and revise. The process-genre approach responds to this by combining attention to the writing process with knowledge of the purpose, context and features of different text types (Badger & White, 2000). Truong (2022) examined its effects on EFL students' writing performance, self-efficacy and autonomy. Because teaching methods and learning strategies are important influences on how well students write, it is necessary to find out which methods are used in Oyo State schools, what challenges students face and what strategies they employ. This study investigates these questions.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

The ability to write appropriately and effectively is a major part of communicative competence among students at all levels of education. However, mastering essay writing remains a problem for secondary school students. Performance in English at the secondary certificate level continues to cause concern (BusinessDay, 2025), and studies of students' essays show recurring weaknesses in grammar, vocabulary, syntax and cohesion (David & Animashaun, 2024). These difficulties have been linked to many factors, including limited practice and teaching of essay writing, the influence of the first language (Akinsola & Olaosebikan, 2019) and the teaching methods used in class.

Despite curriculum recommendations that the four language skills be taught in an integrated way, students continue to experience difficulties in essay writing. There is little documented evidence on the methods teachers use to teach essay writing in Oyo State, on the specific challenges students face, or on the strategies they use to cope. This study investigates the challenges that students face in learning essay writing skills in English language in secondary schools in Oyo State, Nigeria.

1.4 Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study were to:

1. determine the methods that teachers use in teaching essay writing skills;
2. investigate the challenges that students face in learning essay writing skills; and
3. establish the strategies that students employ in learning essay writing skills.

1.5 Research Questions

The following research questions were addressed in the study:

1. Which methods do teachers use in teaching essay writing skills?
2. What challenges do students face in learning essay writing skills?
3. Which strategies do students employ in learning essay writing skills?

1.6 Significance of the Study

The study is significant in several ways. First, its findings may help English language teachers to adopt teaching strategies that improve students' learning of essay writing. Second, they may help curriculum developers and textbook writers to produce materials that address the challenges students face in L2 essay writing. Third, they may be relevant to teacher education, since teacher trainers could use them to develop better methods of preparing language teachers, particularly for the teaching of essay writing. Finally, the study adds to classroom research on second language writing and offers a basis for similar studies in other regions and at other levels of education.

1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study

1.7.1 Scope

The study focused on the challenges that students face in learning essay writing skills in English language in secondary schools in Oyo State, Nigeria. It also sought to establish the teaching methods and learning strategies most commonly used by teachers and students and how these influence the learning of essay writing. The respondents were 180 senior secondary school students and 10 teachers of English, drawn from 10 of the 26 public secondary schools in the state.

1.7.2 Limitations

The findings are limited to the responses obtained from the teachers' interview schedule, the students' questionnaire and the essay writing test. The study covered only 10 public secondary schools and did not include private schools, so the findings cannot be generalised with confidence to all secondary schools in Nigeria. The study also investigated only one area of language learning, namely essay writing. In addition, little published work was available on challenges in L2 writing in the context of Oyo State, so much of the literature search was carried out online. In spite of these limitations, the results are expected to contribute meaningfully to the pedagogy of second language writing.

1.8 Theoretical Framework

The study was guided by the process-genre approach to teaching writing proposed by Badger and White (2000). The approach brings together the strengths of the product, process and genre approaches. From the genre approach it takes the idea that writing is a social activity shaped by the purpose, audience and context of a text, and from the process approach it takes the view that writing develops through stages such as planning, drafting, revising and editing, supported by feedback. In this view, students need both knowledge of language and of text types, and skills in using them. The framework is therefore suited to examining the teaching methods and learning strategies that support or limit essay writing among secondary school students.

References

akinsola, I. T., & Olaosebikan, T. O. (2019). Influence of mother tongue interference on senior secondary school students' articulation of English sounds in Ibadan North Local Government Area. International Journal of Arts and Social Sciences Education, 3(1&2), 37–45.

allAfrica. (2025, August 5). Nigeria: WASSCE 2025 results – Candidates perform poorly in English, Maths. https://allafrica.com/stories/202508050069.html

Badger, R., & White, G. (2000). A process genre approach to teaching writing. ELT Journal, 54(2), 153–160. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/54.2.153

BusinessDay. (2025). WASSCE: WAEC review shows 63%, not 32%, obtained 5 credits or more in English, Maths. https://businessday.ng/news/article/wassce-waec-review-shows-63-not-32-obtained-5-credits-or-more-in-english-math/

David, B. J., & Animashaun, B. (2024). Analysis of errors in the essays of senior secondary school students in Akoko South-West Local Government Area, Ondo State, Nigeria. Path of Science, 10(11), 3017–3037.

Truong, H. M. (2022). Impacts of process-genre approach on EFL sophomores' writing performance, writing self-efficacy, writing autonomy. Journal of Language and Education, 8(1), 181–195. https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2022.12165