Teaching and Learning of English Academic Writing in a Public University in Malaysia: A Case Study

Abstract

English academic writing is deemed as essential skills to be acquired by students
in tertiary education as they are mostly assessed through their proficiency in
writing skills. To teach this technical course, ESL lecturers need to possess the
required content knowledge and pedagogical skills. However, many ESL/EFL
lecturers and students regard academic writing as challenging to teach and learn.
This paper aims to discuss the teaching and learning of English academic writing
in a public university in Malaysia. Grounded in a small-scale case study, data were
collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), and
classroom observations with one ESL lecturer and four undergraduate students
participated in the study. Data were analysed thematically using thematic analysis
where themes and codes were used to explain the findings. Findings revealed that
teacher-centered approach with heavy-reliance on textbook teaching was used to
teach English academic writing and students learned academic writing by
engaging in lots of drills and writing practices. The paper suggests ESL lecturer to
adopt traditional teaching approach with process-based approach as a dual
approach in teaching English academic writing and modifications and changes
should be made to the syllabus of academic writing at tertiary education level.