Teachers’ Perceptions on Teaching Writing to Elementary Students at a Private International School

Abstract

Writing is an important element in teaching English to students and writing is the hardest skill to learn in which different competencies are required from students. Many teachers expressed their concerns that students often feel demotivated in writing, hence of the decline of their writing proficiency. This study is to find out teachers' perceptions on teaching writing to elementary students and the challenges that they face regarding the students' writing proficiency. One-to-one interviews were conducted with three elementary English teachers who have been teaching English for more than five years in a private international school. The interview transcripts were analysed used thematic analysis for an in-depth understanding of the teachers' perceptions on teaching writing. The ethical considerations were emphasised in this study too in which, the interviewees were anonymous, and consents from the school and individual teachers were sought before conducting the interviews. Several emerging themes were found in this study: (1)  Incorporating visuals in writing, (2) Encouraging collaborative learning, (3) Poor writing foundation among students, and (4) Time constraints in guiding . In conclusion, incorporating visuals and collaborative learning have been found to be effective in promoting writing skills among students.