Malaysian ESL Students’ Perception of the Importance Learning Argumentative Writing and Challenges Faced

Although argumentative writing skills are essential for survival in today’s social and professional world, they are rather challenging to master. The Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education places great emphasis on the needs for graduates to grasp argumentative writing skills. However, learners appear to be ambivalent about the skills. Thus, using a quantitative approach, this study aims to explore the students’ perceptions towards learning argumentative writing as well as identify the challenges that they face. Analysed using ANOVA, data from the questionnaire used in the study indicates that: i) the respondents believed that learning argumentative writing is equally important for academic success and career development in the future; and ii) those with lower grades tend to struggle more with language style and components of argumentative writing. The findings also suggest that educators should try to cater to students’ needs in order to promote mastery of argumentative writing skills. In the future, qualitative research could be conducted to explore learners’ perceptions in more detail. Researchers could also employ mixed methods to investigate issues around argumentative writing skills from educators’ perspectives.