The impact of communication skills and academic writing as required courses on undergraduate students’ writing

Abstract

The ability to communicate competently in writing is a major facet of language development and academic success among university students. However, students are not able to write academic essays appropriately as stated in related literature (Adika, 2010). The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of communication skills and academic writing as a required course on undergraduate students’ writing in University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani. The objectives are to: accentuate the major components of the course, investigate the infractions students commit in writing essays, determine the causes and establish strategies to enhance writing. The study was based on the discourse community theory. A mixed method design was adopted and 150 level 200 students and 3 lectures were sampled through stratified random sampling as respondents. The data for analysis were gathered using questionnaire, semi-structured interview and students’ project essays. Quantitative analysis was conducted using descriptive statistical techniques while qualitative data was thematically analysed. The findings showed that students commit various infractions: including incorrect referencing, inaccurate write-up of introduction, content/ body and conclusion, use of non-academic resources, repetition of expressions, and breach of grammatical structures. The causes of these shortfalls include transitional issues, lack of feedback, lack of reading culture and reading resources and inadequate practising opportunities, inadequate lecture periods as well as student under preparedness. Some interventional strategies to address these infractions are that lecturers should give multiple writing opportunities, give constructive feedback, and all lecturers should be involved in assisting students to write academically.