Process Narrative Strand of Exposition in the Essays of Nigerian Undergraduates

Abstract

This study examines the problems encountered by Nigerian undergraduates in writing process narrative strand of expository essay. The theoretical framework for this study is Applied Linguistics. Two hundred and twenty-eight students comprising 108 from the Department of English, 65 from the Department of History and International Studies and 55 from the Department of Philosophy offering Use of English course in Akwa Ibom state University, Nigeria participated in the language test. Stratified random sampling method was used to select 15 out of 228 essays for analysis and discussion. The study revealed that the participants had difficulties such as incomplete process, cultural barriers, transliteration, overuse of the 2nd person singular pronoun “you” and the adjective “your” and sequencing in addition to syntactic and lexical issues. A half of the participants performed above average. Extension of Use of English course from one year to two and more exercises on writing have been recommended.