Proper grammar, punctuation, spelling and extensive vocabulary are all crucial components of writing.
Unfortunately, the grim statistics show that most high school students lack the proficiency in writing necessary to successfully complete a college-level English composition class. As a result, poor writing skills affect students’ performance and grades as well as lower chances to succeed in their future.
Why do students struggle with writing? What are the ways to overcome this issue? How can AI writing assistants help? We’ll cover these questions in our new blog post. Let’s dive into it.
Students don’t read as much as before
Reading is an effective process for improving writing skills. While reading, students learn new words, expressions and the way they can be used.
The digital era provides us with numerous opportunities, while simultaneously creating new challenges.
Teenagers and young adults are no longer eager to perceive information through reading. Why would they, if there are so many YouTube videos that explain all they need in 10 minutes?
Social media destroy our focus, so reading becomes particularly tedious. As a consequence, students don’t memorize new expressions and proper grammar usage, their vocabulary is limited.
The casual style of writing differs from the formal one
Essays and research papers require an academic writing style. While creative writing is enjoyable, the formal one is tiresome for most students.
Essays, for example, should be written using accurate and subject-specific vocabulary, which students often don’t possess. Social media, short videos or some blog posts that teens usually digest are unlikely to contain this kind of vocabulary. Combine this with a lack of reading and you’ll see dozens of students who are afraid of writing.
People don’t speak using correct grammar
Even though most students in the US are natives, a lion’s share of them doesn’t speak correctly, let alone formally. Spoken language is full of incorrect grammar, unnecessary fillers, slang words and so on. Written assignments, in turn, should be concise, clear, accurate and formal.
That’s why ELL students, for instance, can’t rely on speaking to improve their writing.
Students aren’t prepared to write academic papers
According to The New York Times article based on several studies, the root of the problem lies in teachers’ inability to teach students how to write. They often have little training in how to teach writing and, as a result, are unconfident writers themselves.
The analysis of teacher preparation programs indicated that the teaching of writing wasn’t being covered in a widespread or systematic way.
For these reasons, students lack writing practice and get little or no feedback.
Students are dysgraphic or dyslexic
Students with these disorders commonly suffer from poor reading and writing skills. To keep up with the pace, they should be provided with special room accommodation. However, the symptoms of the disorders are often overlooked because neither educators nor their parents are aware of students’ condition.
Without proper care, they will most probably perform worse and get lower marks.
How to Help Students who Struggle with Writing
First, educational institutions should take into consideration the peculiarities of all students. Dyslexic, dysgraphic and ELL students have special needs that should be met. For example, additional writing and reading classes or class accommodation would be of great value.
Second, teachers should take additional programs to learn how to teach writing. In fact, various initiatives are taken to address the issue. For example, as part of its program at Nassau Community College, a group of teachers was honing their own writing skills.
Finally, students themselves should take action to improve their writing. Practice makes perfect, as we all know.
There are numerous techniques: freewriting, copying articles or essays, journaling and reading. In addition, it’s important to have someone who can give feedback on students’ writing.
How Linguix Assists Students
Although we learn how to write in childhood, it still is one of the most challenging skills for many students. Yet the amount of papers, essays and emails they have to write to survive the university is notorious. Silly mistakes can easily affect grades and eventually their future.
Nevertheless, students rarely can afford to buy tools for their studies.
Therefore, our team has decided to provide all students with Linguix Premium for free! Use the tool to check if your grammar, punctuation and spelling are correct. Your personal Writing Coach helps you learn and avoid common mistakes you make. Rewriter 2.0, in turn, makes your vocabulary diverse and eliminates repetition.
If you’re a student and have an “.edu” email address, click the link, create an account and get your free Premium right away.
If your student email account doesn’t end with “. edu”, contact us at [email protected] and we’ll help you out.
Focus on the value you provide in your writing assignments. Linguix helps you with the rest!
Classroom strategies to build writing skills
Short, regular practice and clear, focused feedback help students transfer skills from reading into writing. Prioritize low-stakes daily tasks that build fluency and occasional longer assignments that require planning, revision and evidence-based argumentation.
- Timed freewrites (5-10 minutes) to lower the fear of starting and generate raw material for revision.
- Reverse outlining: after a draft, have students create an outline from their own paragraphs to check structure and focus.
- Sentence-combining and imitation exercises to widen syntactic variety and model academic phrasing.
- Targeted rubrics and single-issue feedback-ask students to revise only one element (e.g., thesis clarity, paragraph unity, or citation use) per draft.
- Peer review with clear prompts and exemplars so students learn to notice strengths and weaknesses in others’ writing.
Make accommodations explicit: offer extra time, multi-sensory options (audio drafts or speech-to-text), and scaffolded organizers for ELL and neurodiverse learners. Use model texts and short mini-lessons tied directly to the errors you see most often.
FAQ
How can I tell if a student needs extra support beyond classroom instruction?
Look for persistent indicators such as slow reading, inconsistent spelling, difficulty organizing ideas, or frustration with basic sentence construction. If these persist despite regular instruction, consider screening for dyslexia/dysgraphia and involving support services.
How often should students write in order to improve?
Daily short tasks (5-15 minutes) build fluency; combine these with a weekly longer task that requires planning and revision. Regular cycles of write → feedback → revise produce the strongest gains.
What makes feedback effective for student writers?
Be specific, actionable and limited in scope. Prioritize one or two learning goals per assignment, show examples of success, and encourage self- and peer-assessment so students learn to apply feedback independently.
