An investigation of the specific writing difficulties of tertiary level Business Communication students in Botswana

Abstract

The writing of professional business documents in English appears to be a challenging endeavour for tertiary students all over the world. Since English writing skills are seen as one of the priority skills required when graduates seek employment, the writing difficulties often experienced by such graduates could affect their chances of securing employment negatively. In this context, the current study investigated the writing ability of tertiary students at a specific tertiary college in Botswana (hereafter referred to as the ABCD) with specific reference to their writing of appropriate business documents. All these students have to complete a Business Communication course in their first year (An Introduction to Business Communication [IBC]), where the writing of business documents is addressed as part of the course. A comprehensive literature review was conducted as a first step in order to determine the general academic writing difficulties of tertiary students in Africa, as well as the specific writing difficulties of such students in writing professional documents related to a business context. The literature survey further wished to establish whether writing difficulties were limited to tertiary students in Africa or if such difficulties were experienced internationally. Secondly, the researcher wanted to determine empirically whether the IBC students at the ABCD experienced writing difficulties with respect to the writing of business (and general academic) documents both before and after they completed the first year IBC course. Because the Business Communication course needed to prepare the students adequately for the writing of appropriate business documents in the world of work, the study further determined whether students who were busy with their internships (during their 4th year) at various prospective employers in Botswana met the expectations of such employers concerning the writing of professional business documents. Various additional data sets were also collected in order to verify the appropriateness of the IBC course at the ABCD. These included an analysis of the learning outcomes of the IBC course compared with the typical outcomes of other Business Communication courses, an analysis of the final examination papers of the IBC course, relevant information collected from the lecturers who presented the course, as well as observations on how the writing aspect of the course was taught by these lecturers. The results of all these investigations were then used to propose a possible adjustment to the current business writing intervention at the ABCD to address the specific writing difficulties of the IBC students more effectively, as well as to respond more effectively to the expectations of employers.