Abstract

Background: Top of Form In order to enhance tertiary EFL students' formal writing skills, it is crucial that they develop proficiency in writing mechanics alongside their syntactic maturity. It is crucial because weaknesses in writing mechanics can significantly impact the overall quality of the content. Purpose: the present study aims to examine the nuances of the sub-categories of three major writing mechanics and thus bring up some implications for EFL teachers, syllabus designers, and material designers. Methodology: This study is qualitative in nature and collected 42 narrative essays from 42 tertiary students. The participants comprised both English and non-English majors from seven private and public universities in Bangladesh. The collected data were analyzed using Hsieh and Shannon's (2005) summative content analysis. Findings: The findings of the analysis indicate that the most error-prone mechanics for students are the correct usage of ending punctuation marks (specifically the full stop) and non-ending punctuation marks (such as commas), while the second most challenging mechanics are the correct spellings of di- and polysyllabic words. Further, in capitalization mechanics, they encounter difficulties in the appropriate use of uppercase letters. Research implications: The study concludes with pedagogical implications that tertiary EFL teachers, syllabus designers, and material designers should put more emphasis on the sub-categories of writing mechanics while designing writing tasks for tertiary EFL learners.