Difficulties Saudi, Undergraduate, Male Students Encountered in Topic-Sentence Writing and Bloom’s Cognitive Competencies They Relate to: A Case Study of (PMU)

Abstract

This case study attempted to explore the difficulties Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University (PMU) Saudi, undergraduate, male students encountered in writing topic sentences for the traditional, argument essays they wrote for a core writing course (COMM 1311) they took in the fall semester of 2017/2018. The data collection technique used for this study was the document review, which included thirty traditional, argument essays. MAXQDA 2020 was utilized for the data analysis. The analysis resulted in five themes of difficulties: lack of precision, lack of concision, lack of orientation, mechanics difficulties, and grammatical difficulties. The writing difficulties in each of the five themes were found to relate to the following cognitive competencies: understanding, analysis, and evaluation. Only the difficulties in lack of orientation and mechanics themes, however, were found to relate to the remembering cognitive competence, whereas the difficulties in lack of concision, mechanics, and grammar themes were found to relate to application.