Palestine University English majors’ writing performance compared to their secondary school academic achievement amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract EN

This study aims at investigating the relation between Palestine university English majors’ writing performance and their secondary school academic achievement amid the coronavirus pandemic in the second semester of the academic year 2020/2021.

the participants were twenty-three Palestine university English majors, two males and twenty-one females.

and their writing production on a practical writing test was quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed.

in addition, the researcher compared the participants’ total score on writing one course and their total mark in secondary school certificate.

moreover, a semi-structured interview with the participants of the study was conducted via WhatsApp application to reveal the reasons behind their recent writing level.

findings indicated that Palestine university English majors’ writing performance has a significant positive relationship with their academic performance at secondary school during the covid-19 pandemic.

the participants of the study were not satisfied with their writing performance level, and they attributed this decline to the following reasons: (1) online learning at Palestine university during the covid-19 pandemic does not suit their needs, (2) palestinian public school English language teaching needs to be developed in light of university requirements, and (3) students’ family economic situation and the last Israeli attack (may 2021) badly affected their writing performance.