Supervisors’ views of the generic difficulties in thesis writing of Chinese EFL research students

Authors

  • Hongbing Peng Jinan University

Keywords:

supervisors’ views, generic difficulties, thesis/dissertation writing, mainland Chinese EFL research students, EAP

Abstract

The present study was a part of a larger investigation which was chiefly conducted in 2010 in one leading mainland Chinese university of foreign studies. It explores the generic difficulties in thesis/dissertation writing perceived by the graduate supervisors of their research students in their advanced academic literacy process. The data was chiefly based on in-depth interviews. The results reveal that the thesis/dissertation writing generic difficulties demonstrated by the research students related to narrative literature review and lack of conceptual framework. The possible causes were examined. The results imply that Chinese EFL graduate students rely academically heavily on their supervisors in writing a thesis/dissertation regardless of how they perform on the graduate entrance examination. Pedagogical implications are offered.

Author Biography

  • Hongbing Peng, Jinan University
    Hongbing Peng is a lecturer in the College of Foreign Studies at Jinan University, China. She teaches BA courses in thesis writing and English as a foreign language. Her research interests include EAP and English education.

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Published

2018-04-05

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Supervisors’ views of the generic difficulties in thesis writing of Chinese EFL research students. (2018). The Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5(1), 93-103. https://caes.hku.hk/ajal/index.php/ajal/article/view/524