Analysis of Students’ Writing Skill in Writing Invitation Letters at the Eleventh Grade of SMK N 2 Padang

Abstract

Writing skill is an essential functional English competence for Vocational High School (SMK) students to support academic communication and prepare for wßorkplace demands. However, eleventh-grade students at SMK N 2 Padang still face obstacles in writing invitation letters. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze the level of students' writing skills in composing invitation letters and identify their specific difficulties. Employing a descriptive quantitative approach, this research investigated a representative sample of 31 students from Class XI PMS 1, selected via cluster random sampling from a population of 93 students. Data were collected through a 60-minute written assessment and evaluated across five standard dimensions using Brown’s (2019) analytic scoring framework. The findings indicated that the overall writing skill fell into the Very Good category, with a combined mean score of 75.4. Among individual components, grammar was the lowest-performing aspect with a mean score of 2.58 (Fair). In conclusion, while most students constructed clear content and structure, grammar accuracy and vocabulary variation remain their primary challenges.