WRITING DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY

THE STUDENTS OF MA ENGLISH FIRST

SEMESTER WITH NO EXPOSURE TO SHORT
LANGUAGE COURSES BEFORE MA ENGLISH

BY

AMJAD ALI

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES

Islamabad, Pakistan
January 2017
 Thesis Submission

WRITING DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY THE

STUDENTS OF MA ENGLISH FIRST SEMESTER WITH
NO EXPOSURE TO SHORT LANGUAGE COURSES
BEFORE MA ENGLISH

BY

AMJAD ALI

A thesis submitted to National University of Modern

Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan, in partial fulfillment for the

Requirement of MA ENGLISH degree

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN

 LANGUAGES, ISLAMABAD
JANUARY 2017

RESEARCHER’S DECLARATION
I, Amjad Ali, do hereby declare on solemn affirmation that the work presented in this
thesis is my own and was carried out under the supervision of Ms, Sheher Bano. I have
never presented it to any other university or institution for the award of a degree.

Amjad Ali

(Researcher)

Certified

Head

Faculty of English Language,

Literature and applied

Linguistics

Ms, Sheher bano Mr, Shaheen-ul- Zaman

(Supervisor) (Subject Teacher)

 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

All thanks due to almighty ALLAH, Most gracious, who enabled me to complete
this research.

I wish to express to my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my parents, family

members and friends whose prayers, love and best wishes were a source of inspiration,
encouragement and motivation for me as I was successfully completing my research. I
would also like to extend my special thanks to my mother whose prayers were a blessing
for me.

I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Ms. Sheher Bano, who read my draft

copies, listen my problems and whose stimulating suggestions and encouragement helped
me throughout the time I was researching and writing this dissertation.

I owe a special note of gratitude to my subject teacher Mr. Shaheen-ul- Zaman

and all the teachers and faculty members for the assistance, guidance, generosity and
good advice. Their great efforts on me made be able to achieve the target.

. I am also thankful to the principal and teachers of National University of

Modern Languages, for granting me permission to the access the participants.

I would also wish to thank Khadim Hussain, Ifrah Kalsoom, Zia Khatak, and
Ammad-ud-din Abbasi for their help and company they provided me during this research
work.

Finally, I am extremely thankful to all the participants who provided me a rich

detailed data for the study and lent breadth and value to the research findings.
 DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, all family members, friends and
my supervisor who have guided me in the whole process of thesis writing.
 DELIMITATION

The researcher delimited the topic to students of Evening shift of MA English

NUML
 HYPOTHESIS

 Students who do language courses before taking admission in MA English have a

better writing level then those who do not.
 ABSTRACT

The present study attempts to investigate the psychological factors affecting

Gilgiti student’s speaking ability and to draw the attention of the teachers, students and
educationists toward the importance of speaking as one of the important language skills.
The aim of this study is to come out with constructive recommendations for students,
teachers and educationists in order to improve the processes of teaching and learning
speaking English. In addition, it attempts to specify the psychological factors affecting
speaking English. The sample for the study was (40) students from English Class SSCI
and SSCII level students of Government High School Gullapure Gilgit. The instrument of
this study was a questionnaire for the students. A questionnaire of (15) statements was
distributed during formal lectures. Data was statistically analyzed by Statistical Package
for Social Sciences (SPSS) program. The findings of the study indicate that the lack of
self-confidence, motivation and anxiety are the most affecting factors of speaking. In
addition, the study points out that these psychological factors can have more impact on
speaking than any other language skills. It also suggests that the teacher who wishes to
improve his student’s speaking skills have to consider these psychological factors toward
the learning process. Finally, the study points out that self-confidence and motivation are
the most influential psychological factors that hinder Gilgiti students when speaking
English.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER Title Page no

1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………….1

1.1 Background of the topic………………………………….2

1.2 Statement of the problem…………………………………7

1.3 Objectives…………………………………………………8

1.4 Research Questions……………………………………….9

1.5 Delimitations………………………………………………9

1.6 Significance of the study………………………………….9

2 LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………..10

2.1 Speaking Skill ……………………………………...........10

2.2 Psychological factors that affect in Speaking……............12

2.2.2 Lack of Aptitude…………………………………............12

2.2.3 Lack of Motivation………………………………………12

2.2.4 Anxiety……………………………………………………13

2.2.5 Lack of Confidence……………………………………….14

2.2.6 Shyness…………………………………………………...15

2.2.7 Fear of Mistakes………………………………………….15

2.3 Previous Works…………………………………………...16

 2.4 Conclusion………………………………………………...30

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY………………………….31

3.2 Research Design…………………………………………...31

3.3 Research Paradigm………………………………………...33

3.4 Population………………………………………………….34

3.5 Sampling Technique……………………………………….34

3.6 Research Tools…………………………………………….35

3.7 Theoretical Framework……………………………………35

3.8 Conclusion………………………………………………....36

4 DATA COLLECTION AND DATA ANALYSIS………..38

4.2 Data Collection Procedure………………………………....38

4.3 Data Analysis……………………………………………...39

4.4 Conclusion………………………………………………..55

5 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS……………….56

5.2 Conclusion………………………………………………...56

5.3 Implications……………………………………………….57

5.4 Recommendations………………………………………...58

5.5 Suggestions for Further Research…………………………59

REFERENCES…………………………………………....61