COUNTERING THE SYNDROME OF ENGLISH WRITING DIFFICULTIES

     When I asked my students how they feel about writing in English, I got emotional answers. "Writing in English is difficult.....too difficult for me." says one of my students. The other student says, "I have some problems when  writing in English...Sometimes I cannot transfer or translate well my ideas in Bahasa Indonesia into English."

     This "Writing in English is too difficult" syndrome becomes a serious problem in the EFL writing class. The students who believe that they are incapable of writing well in English may try to be active in their writing process. They see the teacher as soneone who will give them the guidance or formula that helps them get through the writing class.

     It is important to recognize that we help our students become empowered by their own knowledge and experience. We should try to transform students' negative perception about their abilities and result in their being empowered as writers. If our students are to believe that they can write, the classrooms must be nonthreatening and comfortable places where there is an atmosphere of freedom and writing tasks that are liberating.