THE IMPORTANCE OF WRITING SKILLS FOR EFL LEARNERS: COMMON ERRORS AND WAYS OF IMPROVING

Abstract

In order to attain specific language mastery, it is required to obtain four major skills of language such as writing, reading, listening, and speaking. One of the most complicated and highly required skills among all these four skills is writing, and since it is considered to be difficult, it is impossible to acquire this skill in a natural way for EFL (English as a foreign language) learners. Moreover, it is mostly accepted as the skill that has many complexities thus playing a determining role in linguistic output. For example, EFL learners frequently face difficulties in writing connected with such language components as vocabulary, grammatical structure, coherence and cohesion, spelling and punctuation. The following article aims to emphasize the significance of writing in learning a foreign language. It also attempts to highlight some common errors in students’ writings and to suggest extensive reading as an essential solution and effective way of developing writing skills.