Students' attitudes towards EFL university writing: A case study at An-Najah National University, Palestine

Writing has always been seen as the most troublesome and challenging area of language learning for all students without exception especially if it is to be done in a foreign language. Most of these students fail to meet the expectations of instructors both communicatively and linguistically. Those students are, in fact of varied backgrounds, different learning methodologies, varied levels of language skills and experience, let alone different insights, attitudes and conceptions about the writing skill. Consequently, it is significant to exhibit what these students think of writing and how they approach it. This study was meant to serve a two-fold purpose. Firstly, it aimed at examining what the Palestinian EFL students' attitudes towards writing in general are; and secondly, whether the Palestinian EFL students feel any difference between expressing ideas while writing in English and Arabic. The participant of this study were (102) EFL students enrolled in four writing courses offered by the English Department in the Faculty of Humanities at An-Najah National University in the Spring Semester 2016/2017. A 28-item questionnaire modified from Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Questionnaire and an open-ended question to help respondents freely express their attitudes towards writing were used to answer the questions. The study findings showed that students had positive attitudes toward writing, the various writing courses offered by the university, the textbooks and teaching methods used, and their writing skills and strategies.