Based on the experience presented above, he realized the obstacles that he had at that time. Furthermore, Jaya committed to give more serious to his own
writing. “Well, I would say again, when you write and you have to take something
for a consideration it should be more precise. Especially the logic that you have to come up with, and then how to write simply directly to the point.
And to mean what you say and to say exactly as you supposed to say. Not only yourself but also others could understand it. So I give more serious to
it.” 9-JA2-29-INT
Reflecting on what he was aware of in writing academic papers made him realize some important points. Jaya realized that he did not have enough
respondents as well as the references. “Could have been much better perhaps had more respondent, more time to look at the issue, and I don’t think I used a lot of
references.” 9-JA2-20-EXP. Not only that, he also realized that mostly were based on his personal experience. In other words, what he did was not very
academic considering that it should be supported by references. “Mostly based on my personal experience which is not very academic. You know I mean. Because
you need academic back up on references.” 9-JA2-20-EXP. Writing academic papers has brought some benefits to Jaya’s life. He
learned how to adjust his English style from social English and moved them to academic English. Then, he became more careful and paid attention in details 9-
JA2-30-REV. B.
Interpretation of the Participants’ Lived Experiences
This section presented the interpretation of graduate students’ lived experiences in writing academic papers. The interpretations, of course, were based
on the findings. This section consists of pre-figured themes and emerging themes. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Pre-figured themes are the themes which predicted after pre-understanding of this study. In contrast, emerging themes are the themes which appear after data
gathering.
1. Pre-Figured Themes
The discussion below was bracketed and arranged based on the pre-figured themes discussed in the theoretical framework. Empirically, there are three
themes; language competence, critical thinking and writing expectation.
a. Language Competence
Language competence refers to knowledge of and ability to use language resources to form well-structured messages Gridharan, 2011. In details, it deals
with knowledge of the language used and the ability to apply that knowledge. As a result, by having language competence, students are able to produce meaningful
texts appropriate to the situation in which they are used. In relation with this study, academic writing requires conscious effort in composing, developing, and
analyzing idea which is related with functional language skills, such as proper natural language in different social contexts and using language in creative ways.
Thus, the writing ability is not a naturally acquired skill; it is usually learned through experience and must be practiced in formal instructional or other
settings. It is undoubtedly the process of writing, though, which can create problems for students, to be specific writing in academic contexts. In writing
academic paper, Asti tried to use her ability and knowledge in order to compose a well-structured message. She started to write several major points of the topic that
she had at the beginning. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
“Well, at the beginning I tried to write per sentence. Then check with the appropriate model. And how to express the idea in the writing appropriately.”
5-AI2-3-DRA-PCS “After finished with the points, I tried to write it down. Just in simple sentence. Just like having one or two sentences. Then, I checked
whether the ideas had been stated appropriately or not.” 5-AI2-3-DRA-PCS.
The extract above shows that Asti was really concern about her writing quality, especially in expressing her ideas. She tried co composed a well-
structured message from the simplest sentence structure. Based on the interviews, it can be implied that Asti realized the importance of composing a well-structured
message by forming through simple sentences. In line with Asti, Jaya had a struggle in composing and organizing his idea into paper. In order to make the
hierarchical relationship of ideas, he needed to understand the topic and link with another concept that he had. “To me, the most challenging is how to understand
something and try to link it with other concepts.” 9-JA2-11-DRA-PCS. Another participant, Cahyo, had different perspective. He faced a problem
with the sentence structure. His lecturer suggested him to compose a complex sentence which includes technical terms related to the context that he had 7-CO2-
161-EDI-PCS. It indicates that Cahyo used simple sentence and common tems in expressing his ideas previously. Having such struggle in writing academic paper
made Cahyo realized that he needed to improve his writing especially related to his language competence.
According to Oshima and Hogue 1999, a writer should follow the outline and pay attention on the unity as well as coherence. They argue that this step is
essential in keeping the flow and connection among the paragraphs. Therefore, based on the interviews with the participants, it can be inferred that all the
participants were aware of their own language competence which affected their PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
writing. Thus, all of the participants tried to do the best and to be close to the expectations.
The participants’ language competence can be inferred throughout the writing process, namely, planning, drafting, revising and editing their academic paper. As
stated by Asti, she planned the major points of the topic which she intended to say, tried to formulate the background of the topic and also relation among
concepts, revised and edited her paper. She stated “there was something wrong with the grammar. After that I had to revise it. Meaning that, how to make the
ideas clearly stated in our writing as we expected.” 5-AI2-3-REV-PCS. Not only that, Asti had a difficult time in composing effective sentences. “The lecture asked
me to make a paragraph, a simple paragraph. However, he said that there were several ineffective sentences so those sentences should be deleted. Only a few of
them were correct.” 5-AI2-35-EDI-PCS Jaya also had similar experience in writing his academic paper. “I had to re edit what I had done. Taking what I want
to convey what I want to say and making sure that all expressed there.” 9-JA2- 30-REV-PCS
The text above shows that the participants faced problems in writing their academic papers. They had struggles with composing effective sentences, having
appropriate sentence structure and expressing ideas within context. However, those barriers did not hinder their effort to write academic papers. Therefore, not
the participants’ willingness and awareness in writing academic papers could be seen also from how they managed and solved barriers they had in writing
academic papers. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
b. Critical Thinking
In university level, students experienced writing in a completely different context where they have to meet a wide range of genre and topics that require
sufficient amount of critical thinking. According to Tapper 2004 in university contexts, critical thinking is defined in terms of abilities or skills: selection,
evaluation, analysis, reflection, questioning, inference and judgment. When critical thinking is applied to writing, the above abilities are expressed through the
process of argumentation, producing an argument i.e. the essay, the dissertation. In addition, argument can be defined as a connected series of related ideas.
Responding to Tapper’s idea about critical thinking, the participants shared their experience in struggling with their academic papers. Before writing her
paper, Asti had to read several articles related to her topic. Not only that, she could see the gap between her topics with other related studies. She believed that
reading those articles helped her in formulating ideas. Furthermore, Asti could formulate the background of her topic and tried to draw relation among concepts
that she used. Finding the gap among related studies was not easy for her. She need to re-read several articles and comprehend it well before going to the gap
itself. “I had to collect what I had in hand, then I compiled it. I read it at first
what can I use for my paper before I wrote it in paragraph. I also collected several related articles and theory that I could use. Then, I could formulate the
background of my paper. I tended to be selective. Next, I worked with the discussion. I had the data already which was an advantage for me due to time
consuming. Proceed to the conclusion. However, I needed to re-read again from the beginning. What was missing there, what should be added, and so
on.” 5-AI2-49-PLN-PCS PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Elder 2007 states that critical thinking is a self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored,
and self-corrective
thinking which
requires effective
communication and problem solving abilities. Therefore, Asti’s statement above can be inferred that she directed herself in writing her academic papers, not only
directed herself in the process of writing but also in term of formulating and composing her writing content. However, Asti explained that finding appropriate
sources for her academic papers was another problem she faced. “Well, I think finding sources was another barrier too. I know the expert
for the topic but I could not find the related articles, journals, or even book. That was another obstacle which impeded our writing progress. However, I
needed it as the evidence of our statement.” 5-AI2-73-PROB
Asti tended to be selective. This indicates that she realize that not all sources could be used in supporting her paper. She used relevant sources and
theories for supporting her paper. Jaya had similar struggle with Asti in writing his academic paper. He had struggle in composing argument and description in
order to connect ideas better. For him, how to understand and link among concepts was challenging part in writing his academic paper.
“I had to write the assignments, I had to use my cognitive, ability as well. Have to be able to argue, and describe really well and have to think things
over and try to connect ideas. Things like that.” 9-JA2-11-EXP “To me, the most challenging is how to understand something and try to link it with other
concepts to come up with another idea.” 9-JA2-12-EXP
The statement above shows Jaya’s efforts, how he pushed himself in order to argue and describe things really well. As he stated previously that in order to
gain his critical thinking, he had to think things over again. He monitored and directed himself in to be more critical in writing his paper. In contrast with Asti
and Jaya, Cahyo had a disappointing experience when he took comparative theory PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
