AN ANALYSIS OF THE STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN CONSTRUCTING A THESIS STATEMENT IN ESSAY WRITING AT THE ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF PALANGKA RAYA UNIVERSITY

Based on preliminary study, difficulties were identified among 4th semester students’ batch of 2024 at the English education study program of Palangka Raya University in the process of writing essay. On average, the majority of the students face the same difficulties in writing an essay, which is the difficulty in constructing a thesis statement. Therefore, this study aims to analyzing difficulties on constructing a thesis statement in essay writing faced by English Language Education students. This research employed a qualitative method, which was considered an appropriate approach to describe a phenomenon. The subjects of this study were fourth semester students of English Education at Palangka Raya University, selected through purposive sampling techniques which consist of 34 students from group A batch of 2024. The data were collected from three instruments. Such as: document analysis by collecting students’ thesis statement in the classroom, questionnaire through Google form, and interviews through online platforms. Based on the research results, it can be concluded that students experience difficulties in constructing a thesis statement, such as broad and unclear topic and controlling idea, using proper grammar, expressing non-debatable opinion, and constructing a declarative sentence. Therefore, it is recommended for students to need guidance, regular writing practice, and constructive feedback to compose a good thesis statement in essay writing.