An emic perspective on academic writing difficulties among international graduate students in Malaysia

The number of international graduate students choosing Malaysia as their destination of study is increasing. These students arrive to Malaysian shores with diverse academic, cultural and linguistic background with the intention of upgrading their academic qualification especially at graduate leve...

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Main Author: Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh
Format: Article
Language:en
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10163/1/12329-45004-1-PB.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10163/
http://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/issue/view/863
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author Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh,
author_facet Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh,
author_sort Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh,
building Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
description The number of international graduate students choosing Malaysia as their destination of study is increasing. These students arrive to Malaysian shores with diverse academic, cultural and linguistic background with the intention of upgrading their academic qualification especially at graduate level. The students are confronted with a mismatch between the literacy practices in their native country and at graduate level currently. This leads to challenges in adapting to the current academic writing practices at graduate level. Academic writing is a productive skill that is pivotal to ensure academic success. However, students for whom English is a foreign language struggle in writing various sections of academic work at graduate level such as the methodology and discussion sections. This qualitative study focuses on academic writing difficulties faced by the non-native English speaking international graduate students while pursuing their Master’s degree at a public university in Malaysia. Focus group interview was used on 70 international graduate students from taught Master programs to elicit qualitative data. The main objective of the focus group interviews was to analyze how these students negotiate academic writing from an emic perspective. Through this approach, the students were able to share their own experiences of struggling with academic writing practices in higher education. The findings indicate that non-native English speaking international graduate students faced difficulties coping with academic writing especially in English as a medium of instruction setting. This study highlights the need of host institutions in providing academic support to improve the most crucial literacy skill that contributes to academic success at graduate level.
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institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
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spelling my-ukm.journal-101632017-02-27T08:50:31Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10163/ An emic perspective on academic writing difficulties among international graduate students in Malaysia Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh, The number of international graduate students choosing Malaysia as their destination of study is increasing. These students arrive to Malaysian shores with diverse academic, cultural and linguistic background with the intention of upgrading their academic qualification especially at graduate level. The students are confronted with a mismatch between the literacy practices in their native country and at graduate level currently. This leads to challenges in adapting to the current academic writing practices at graduate level. Academic writing is a productive skill that is pivotal to ensure academic success. However, students for whom English is a foreign language struggle in writing various sections of academic work at graduate level such as the methodology and discussion sections. This qualitative study focuses on academic writing difficulties faced by the non-native English speaking international graduate students while pursuing their Master’s degree at a public university in Malaysia. Focus group interview was used on 70 international graduate students from taught Master programs to elicit qualitative data. The main objective of the focus group interviews was to analyze how these students negotiate academic writing from an emic perspective. Through this approach, the students were able to share their own experiences of struggling with academic writing practices in higher education. The findings indicate that non-native English speaking international graduate students faced difficulties coping with academic writing especially in English as a medium of instruction setting. This study highlights the need of host institutions in providing academic support to improve the most crucial literacy skill that contributes to academic success at graduate level. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016-10 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10163/1/12329-45004-1-PB.pdf Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh, (2016) An emic perspective on academic writing difficulties among international graduate students in Malaysia. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 16 (3). pp. 83-97. ISSN 1675-8021 http://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/issue/view/863
spellingShingle Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh,
An emic perspective on academic writing difficulties among international graduate students in Malaysia
title An emic perspective on academic writing difficulties among international graduate students in Malaysia
title_full An emic perspective on academic writing difficulties among international graduate students in Malaysia
title_fullStr An emic perspective on academic writing difficulties among international graduate students in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed An emic perspective on academic writing difficulties among international graduate students in Malaysia
title_short An emic perspective on academic writing difficulties among international graduate students in Malaysia
title_sort emic perspective on academic writing difficulties among international graduate students in malaysia
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10163/1/12329-45004-1-PB.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10163/
http://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/issue/view/863
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/