Effective Communication In Writing: A Challenge Among Student Teachers In Universities In Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to establish English student teachers’ knowledge of writing strategies to facilitate instruction of writing skills. The specific objectives were: to find out introduction strategies used by participants when writing essays, to establish strategies used by participants to ensure coherence of the written essay and to examine conclusion strategies used by the participants in essay writing. A total of 37 fourth year English student teachers’ were used in the study. The instrument used for data generation was document analysis of written essays. The study revealed that the student teachers lack sufficient knowledge of writing strategies. The study recommends that: English Language Teacher Educators should design a course about communication strategies for effective essay writing to be taught to student teachers specializing in English to equip them with both content and pedagogical knowledge for effective teaching.