Teaching Writing to EFL Learners: An Investigation of Challenges Confronted by Indonesian Teachers

Teaching English writing skill which involves developing linguistic and communicative competence of learners is considered a challenging task. When teaching writing, therefore, EFL teachers in general and Indonesian teachers in particular encounter many challenges (i.e. difficulties). This study aims to find out Indonesian teachers’ challenges in teaching English writing skill and discuss possible solutions to remove, or at least, minimize, the problems. The data was collected by interviewing 10 English teachers who come from different part of East Java, Indonesia and teach English in either private or public Junior and Senior High Schools. The instrument used was structured interview. The data collected from the interview was, then, analyzed descriptively. The findings show that there are internal and external factors contribute to the challenges that the teachers confront. The internal factors include linguistic competence, native language interference, motivation and reading habits of the learners, while the external ones include the class condition, aids available for teaching writing and the availability of time. The research findings would facilitate the teachers and the concerning authorities to improve the ELT especially in teaching writing.