Teaching English Essay Writing to Chinese Speaking Students: A Collaborative Action Research

It is inevitable that learners make mistakes in the process of foreign language learning. The question is why they go on making the same mistakes even when such mistakes have been repeatedly pointed out to them and whether the patterns of mistakes can be categorized in terms of the learners' first languages and cultural origins. This study aims to look into the typical mistake patterns in Chinese students' essay writing to be considered by English writing teachers. Based on textual analysis of the writing samples of and interviews with a group of students of IELTS Preparation in a Malaysian university college, the study identifies the respective weaknesses to be overhauled and strengths to be utilized in teaching writing to the Chinese EFL students.