THE CHARACTER BUILDING IN ESSAY WRITING PROJECT: A QUALITATIVE INQUIRY ON STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE

Abstract

This research paper shares the inquiry on the character making detected from students’ experience in
the process of completing their collaborative essay assignment in English as Foreign Language Class
(EFL class). As a qualitative work, this research gained the data by carrying out in-depth interviews
with respondents are advanced students in writing class at English department. This research was
conducted before the covid-19 pandemic. Before doing an interview, students are given assignment
with one semester writing project particularly collaborative essay writing on particular given topics.
The data analysis method of this research applied the grounded theory prescribing the open, axial and
selective coding. The results reveal that students as foreign learners stated that collaborative essay
writing assignment in English engaged them with several characters, such as leadership values, learning
responsibility, self-initiative values, self-regulated learning, and trust. These findings highlight the
contribution of essay writing assignment in a foreign language toward character education in Indonesia