Problems Faced By Students in Writing English Academic Summary

Abstract

Purpose: This research investigates the problems faced by college students in writing English academic summary. Methodology/Approach/Design: The method used includes surface strategy taxonomy by Heidi Dulay and non-linguistic problem using personal interview. The data were collected from 35 original summary writing documents for the linguistic sources and Zoom meeting video recorder for the non-linguistic sources. The samples were 7 students in 5th semester of English Education Department, Islamic State Institute of Kediri. To gather data, the researchers employed a random sampling technique. The data analysis used descriptive qualitative methods. Results: The result of the data analysis shows that the students committed four types of surface strategy taxonomy: omission, addition, misformation, and miss ordering. Misformation is the type of common problem found in the students’ summary writing. In the personal interview, it was found that misunderstands about advanced-vocabulary is the common non-linguistic problem. These represent the problems faced by students. Practical Implications: This research study has implications for teachers and students. The results can be of use for improving students’ writing and designing alternative teaching skills for this important skill. Originality/Value: Summary writing process helps the students to expand their view about proper academic writing. This situation suggests that summary writing is a good strategy technique to be applied in college students. However, the ability in writing an academic summary using surface strategy taxonomy needs to be improved