In Indonesia, although many EFL students at university have a general understanding of grammar rules, it does not mean that they are able to write
academically at levels expected. They are required to deal with variety of writing tasks depending on their chosen degrees. Each task has its own characteristic
which varies from one to another. On the other hand, each assignment type of writing has a clear structure as the guideline. Thus, as stated by Horner Min-
Zhan, 1999; Rose, 1989 criticism has been directed against students’ inability to write at acceptable levels particularly among EFL students. Those compound
the academic writing difficulties experienced by EFL students at tertiary levels. Literature confirms the inadequacies experienced by university EFL students in
their academic writing in English.
B. Related Research Reports
In this section, some related research reports on academic writing will be reviewed in order to show the links of the research problems, their possible
emergent complexities and also discover the place of this study. A number of researches on academic writing have been conducted in investigating deeper
problems encountered by university or college students. Thus, recognizing important issues in writing academic paper is necessary.
Hung Young, 2015 conduct a study on adopting E-Readers to facilitate EFL students’ process based academic writing in the graduate level class entitled
in a northern Taiwan university. This study explored the effectiveness using the e- readers to facilitate EFL students process-based academic writing. E-readers are
portable electronic devices designed for reading digital books and electronic documents, such as the Amazon Kindle, the Sony Book Reader and the BN
NOOK. Those devices have been introduced into the market with the increasing growth of sales. The result of this study shows that the process of reading,
annotation and information retrieval, was affected by e-readers. Not only that, e- reader can be a tool for reciprocal peer review in assisting academic writing for
EFL students.
Compared to
the conventional
paper-based materials, e-readers are significantly beneficial for students’ academic writing
progress. In addition, E-readers could create a better writing environment in the process-based writing approach.
Chokwe 2011 write a report on first year ESL students’ conceptions of writing and how these conceptions influence their academic writing in South
Africa. This study also includes the expectation, respond and understandings of the tutors on the student writing. The study has been done by a qualitative
research methodology and case study approach as research design. The result of the study shows that students were underprepared for engaging in the academic
writing activities required at university level. Moreover, students had a different perspective categorized their writing skills as average, tutors. On the tutor
perspective, the findings reveal that students still struggle with aspects of writing such as, grammar, spelling, the structuring of essays which includes coherence
and cohesion in paragraphs. Despite the fact that students valued feedback highly, in some instances tutors did not provide adequate, understandable and useful
feedback Chokwe, 2011. Hasan Akhand 2010 discuss the approaches to writing in EFLESL
context: balancing product and process in writing class in United International University of Bangladesh. The result of the study indicates that the combination
of product and process is superior to the presentation of the learners. This study provides valid evidence in supporting the view that the combination of both
approaches tends to facilitate the learners to undertake a writing task to be developed. Moreover, the advantages of using a product-process approach in
evaluating the effects of writing tasks are appraised. Maharsi 2007 write a thesis on academic writing experience of
undergraduate students
of Industrial
Technology. This
study discusses the academic writing experiences of the undergraduate International
Program IP students of Industrial Technology at Islamic University of Indonesia which focuses on the students’ perception of academic writing. Moreover, it
explores how they give meaning and actualize themselves through academic writing. This study shows that the students have limited knowledge of writing
skills, exposures of reading materials of their discipline, and inadequate feedbacks while experiencing the stages of writing process. Despite the fact that students are
aware of this importance of academic writing, not all students could take necessary efforts in improving their academic writing.
C. Characteristics of Source of Texts
Academic writing is a kind of writing that is commonly produced by academicians such as lecturers, students, and researchers. Hence, it possesses
particular characteristics of particular subject, purposes, audience, and the language discourse used in their writing. According to Hinkel 2004, academic
writing is developed in students through formal instructional settings. Myles 2002 adds that it involves composing, developing and analyzing ideas, implying
the ability to rephrase information in the form of narratives, or transforming information into new texts as in argumentative writing. In addition, the
proficiency in academic writing may be influenced by cognitive development, educational experiences and overall proficiency in L2 second language for ESL
English as a second language students Giridharan, 2011. Newby et al. 2000 states that in today’s world, demands on the students
have increased significantly. The students are required to use high-order reasoning skills in solving complex problem. According to Zhu 2004, in a university level,
writing an academic paper is one of the partial requirements such as: assignment, journals, articles, mini research project, and even thesis are the examples of the
partial requirements which play important roles. Writing academic paper helps students in expressing and communicating ideas and arguments. Therefore,
Newby et al. 2000 argues that the increasing demand on education enable learner acquire higher-level skills. In other words the students will be ready to
solve complex problem in the real world. In summary, the participants in this study are graduate students who
experienced writing academic papers such as respond papers, journals, articles, mini-research project and even thesis. Having experienced in writing academic
papers such as: assignment, journals, articles, mini research project, play important roles, made the students prepared themselves to face today’s world
demands: using high-order reasoning skills in solving complex problem.
D. Framework of Pre-Understanding
This section provides the connection of the related theory which leads to the pre-understanding of the graduate students’ lived experience in writing
academic papers. Furthermore, the answer of the research question is presented and determined tentatively.
In this research, lived-experienced is defined as a phenomenon which reflects as a meaningful experience. The phenomenon itself is reflected in the past
experience. It is not merely about understanding and beliefs but also feelings, intention and actions of a phenomenon.
Thus, graduate students’ lived experience in writing academic papers is interpreted as how writing academic papers give meaning to the students. In other
words, it is about what the students’ responses toward writing academic papers. The responses cover their beliefs, understanding, feelings, actions, and intention
on writing academic papers. Students’ experience, awareness, and intention writing academic papers become the foundation in unveiling their understanding,
belief, feeling, action, and intention. Therefore, students’ understanding, belief, feeling, action, and intention are used to represent the essential meaning of their
lived experience in writing academic papers. Therefore,
students’ belief on writing academic papers is defined as a certain attitude on writing academic papers which difficult to change. On the other hand,
students’ understanding on writing academic papers is a mind representation of what writing academic papers is about. In this study, feelings refer to the expression what
the students feel about writing academic papers. Intention is what the students expect in writing academic papers. In relation with intention, action in here refers to what the
students do with their intention or expectation in writing academic papers.
The discussions on the concepts of academic writing within English can be summarized that graduate students’ lived experiences on academic writing which
may vary. Not only that, it can be seen as a product and process. In
order to
