Problems with Academic Writing Encountered by EFL Postgraduate Students at a University in the Mekong Delta

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54855/ijli.24311

Keywords:

academic writing, problems, postgraduate students

Abstract

This small-scale survey aimed to investigate the frequent problems of EFL postgraduate students in academic writing. The subjects were 37 postgraduate students studying theand methodology of English language teaching major at a University in the Mekong Delta. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to gather the data in this study. The results of the questionnaires suggest that reference and citation, coherence and cohesion, plagiarism and paraphrasing, lexical, and grammatical problems are EFL postgraduate students' problems in academic writing. The results from semi-structured interviews indicated a variety of factors contributed to those problems. They are the difference between English and their mother tongue, lack of academic writing knowledge and experience, lack of understanding of the topic, and reference material. Realizing the existence of problems, EFL postgraduate students can find ways to overcome them. Besides that, lecturers and instructors can base on the problems and the reasons for problems to use appropriate teaching methods, approaches, and styles to support EFL postgraduate students in academic writing and minimize their problems.

Author Biography

Ho Thi Le Uyen, Tra Vinh University, Tra Vinh City, Vietnam

Ho Thi Le Uyen works as a freelance private English tutor in Vietnam. She has been teaching English for two years. Currently, she is studying for a master's degree in Theory and Methodology of English language teaching major at Tra Vinh University (TVU). In the learning process, she identified that academic writing is essential. However, students still face difficulties learning and practising writing English academically. Therefore, she is interested in research topics related to learning and teaching academic writing.

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Published

01-02-2024

How to Cite

Ho, T. L. U. (2024). Problems with Academic Writing Encountered by EFL Postgraduate Students at a University in the Mekong Delta. International Journal of Language Instruction, 3(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.54855/ijli.24311

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Research Article

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