A Qualitative Analysis of Writing Problems of Low Achieving Advanced Learners in Turkey

The present study was undertaken in order to qualitatively determine the problems that undergraduate students encountered during their undergraduate education and to detect their solution for these problems. Ten undergraduate English Language and Literature department students enrolled at a state university in Turkey participated the study. The study was designed as a case study. Criterion sampling and maximum variation sampling were used in tandem to select the participants. The criterion was to attend Writing Skills I and Writing Skills II courses and fail from one or both. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed through content and descriptive analysis. Results revealed that ELL students experience problems in critical thinking mostly in academic writing and that these problems are more often caused by writing anxiety, and that positive feedback is the most important factor in solving the problems. It was also found that lecturers’ applying a variety of strategies in writing courses makes a great contribution to students.