English essay writing proficiency in Grade 9 at selected public schools in Gauteng in the modern era

Abstract

Background: Despite essay writing being a highly discussed topic, a growing body of writing knowledge gathered from various approaches can inform teachers and learners about revision efforts. Emphasis is placed on the significance of error analysis in English essays, given that English is a widely used language in business, facilitating communication among diverse racial groups. This underscores the importance of developing fluency in English essay writing.

Objectives: The main objective was to identify specific language-related challenges in essay writing among Grade 9 learners in selected Soshanguve schools.

Method: A mixed-methods approach was used to garner information on learners’ perceptions and performance when writing English essays. Interviews and error analysis were used.

Results: When comparing the findings, it emerged that the findings of the qualitative semi-structured interviews reflected the problems that the learners encountered in their writing.

Conclusion: The analysis revealed that learners had difficulties with capitalisation, irregular verbs, contractions, concord, conjunctions, and sentence construction when writing English essays without the help of technology.

Contribution: The study found that language proficiency is important since learners use technology to assist them but when they must write on their own, they experience many writing challenges.