A Collaborative Action Research on Teaching Writing to the Spanish Speaking Equatorial Guinea Students of an Efl Class at a Malaysian University College

Out of the four universal language skills, writing is the most reliable instrument for assessing one’s proficiency in a foreign language due to its challenge of production with a scope of reflection. So the writing samples of a learner can be a rich source of understanding their error patterns not only of performance but also of competence. The error patterns may be due to a first or second language interruption as well as the learners’ different worldviews, cultural/ethnic features and individual characteristics. However, the aim of this study is to look into the typical mistake patterns in Spanish speaking trilingual students’ English writing. It is based on the performance of a group of students from Equatorial Guinea with Spanish as their first or second language. Their essay samples in an English Communication course of a Malaysian university college are analysed and correlated with the consequent interviews with them. The paper identifies the respective weaknesses to be overhauled and strengths to be utilized in teaching writing to the Spanish speaking trilingual English language learners.