Factors that influence high school students efl writing proficiency in Cali

Good writers are good readers .. good reading is the key to becoming a good writer Rodriguez Kessler, 2006:5-6. The integration of reading and writing in L1 and L2 teaching is not new. However, little attention has been directed towards the teaching of EFL English writing in the Colombian context. This paper reports a research carried out with 125 students and 19 teachers from low strata public and no-bilingual private schools in the city of Cali, Colombia. First, the results of this study reveal what are the principal teaching practices and factors that negatively influence high school students EFL writing proficiency and second I explore the possibility of integrating reading activities with writing activities as a possible solution for some of factors found.