Challenges and Solutions in Saudi EFL Students’ Process Writing of Argumentative Essays

This study examines the challenges encountered by Saudi EFL university students when composing argumentative essays, focusing on the three stages of the writing process: pre-writing, writing, and post-writing. A mixed-method explanatory sequential design was adopted, combining a survey of 150 first-year female medical students with follow-up semi-structured interviews of five participants. The survey, adapted from established writing criteria, measured difficulties across brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising, and editing, while interviews provided deeper insights into the underlying causes of these challenges. Quantitative results revealed that outlining was the most difficult pre-writing task, with 71% of students reporting challenges in organizing ideas. During the writing stage, 73% struggled with constructing main body paragraphs and 79% had difficulty linking sentences smoothly, often due to limited knowledge of connectors and confusion about sentence boundaries. In the post-writing stage, 80% of participants found revising first drafts difficult, while 70% struggled with mechanics such as punctuation and capitalization, and nearly half reported problems with grammar editing. Qualitative findings confirmed that these difficulties stemmed from insufficient grammatical knowledge, lack of prior practice, and low motivation. Students frequently described argumentative writing as more complex than descriptive or reflective tasks, requiring critical thinking, persuasive reasoning, and extended content development. They also expressed limited confidence in peer review, perceiving it as ineffective compared to teacher feedback. To address these issues, students recommended continuous training, individualized teacher support, and exposure to clearer models and examples. They emphasized the importance of explicit instruction in outlining, grammar, and connectors, as well as increased opportunities for group discussions and collaborative editing to enhance idea generation and revision skills. Additionally, they highlighted the potential of innovative digital tools and creative activities to increase motivation and engagement. The study carries important implications for pedagogy and policy in Saudi higher education. Teacher training should focus on scaffolding each stage of the writing process and providing sustained formative feedback. Curriculum design should integrate sequenced argumentative writing tasks supported by explicit instruction in organization and critical thinking. Finally, technology can be leveraged to promote active learning, self-regulated revision, and greater student confidence.