Investigating Difficulties in Elementary School Students' Written Expression

This article presents the results of a qualitative action research study about the possible causes of the difficulties in the written expression of fifth grade students of a bilingual school in Barranquilla. The study was conducted only on its ethnographic stage, which involved investigating the problem, analyzing data, and interpreting results for a further design of an action plan that contributes to the solution of this problem. The design of this action plan will be subject of a future investigation.This study included six 5th grade students, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades Language teachers, and the elementary school academic coordinator. The techniques applied were observations, semi-structured interviews, and documentary analysis (students’ written production, teachers’ protocols, writing class activities, students’ evaluation samples, lesson plans, and the 5th grade writing scope and sequence). Triangulation was used as the technique for analyzing the data obtained with the different instruments.For a better management of the results, they were classified into categories addressing the students, the teachers, and the school. These results suggest that the students’ difficulties in writing come from different sources, which were examined separately for a better management of the information.