The Difficulties Faced By Junior High School Students In Writing Descriptive Text

Abstract

The research explored the difficulties faced by seventh-grade students in Indonesian junior high schools, especially under the Kurikulum Merdeka, in writing descriptive texts. Despite being introduced early, students struggled with both linguistic aspects such as grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure, and non-linguistic factors like motivation and confidence. Zahra (2025) found that students could generate basic ideas but lacked grammatical accuracy and coherence. Writing, as one of the four essential language skills, required mastery of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Nation (2009) emphasized that writing supported the development of other language skills. However, many students perceived English writing as difficult. Duha (2022) noted that writing well demanded ability, effort, and a clear understanding of text types. The process involved idea generation and refinement, making it complex and demanding. Unlike speaking, which was used daily and done unconsciously, writing required students to learn specific rules and understand the social functions of different texts. Yoandita (2018) stated that descriptive writing required detailed descriptions to help readers visualize the subject. The study adopted a qualitative approach, using interviews to explore students' internal experiences, motivations, and challenges. According to Kvale & Brinkmann (2015) and Mackey & Gass (2016), interviews were effective in uncovering internal factors like anxiety and learning strategies. This method was chosen to provide deeper insights into students’ writing difficulties and contribute to both theory and classroom practice. Second Language Writing (SLW) theory, as outlined by Hyland (2003), viewed writing as a combination of linguistic ability, cognitive strategies, social understanding, and communicative intent. In Indonesia's EFL context, writing was a main tool to assess students’ comprehension and language use. The theory emphasized that writing challenges should be viewed not only through outcomes but also through students’ experiences, strategies, and obstacles.SLW difficulties were categorized into linguistic and non-linguistic aspects. Linguistic problems included poor sentence structure and vocabulary, while non-linguistic issues involved low motivation and writing anxiety (Murbarani, 2024). These limitations often hindered students’ ability to produce effective descriptive texts. This theory supported the qualitative research by allowing in-depth exploration of cognitive, emotional, and social factors influencing students’ writing. This research used a qualitative descriptive research design to describe the difficulties faced by students in writing descriptive texts. It aimed to explore students’ subjective experiences and perceptions, focusing on both linguistic and non-linguistic challenges. The descriptive case study approach, based on Yin (2018), was applied to examine these phenomena within the real-life context of English learning in a Grade VII.This study explored the difficulties experienced by 7th-grade junior high school students in writing English descriptive texts. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and documentation of students’ written work, then analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) Thematic Analysis, which involved six stages: data familiarization, initial coding, theme identification, theme review, naming, and reporting.