A study of the writing behaviors of low proficiency English learners in Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper makes a comparative study of what low proficiency learners do when they write narratives in their native language and in English. It tries to find out whether language proficiency works as an impediment to good writing or whether it is an ability independent of the level of language proficiency. It was found that good writing by itself is an independent ability and bad writers in Bengali were also bad writers in English, while good writers in Bengali tried hard to write well in English. This finding has important implications for language teachers.