Exploring Thesis Proposal Writing Problems And Coping Strategies Of Master Students

Over the past two decades,problems and strategies in writing is receiving growing attention in the field of academic literacy.It is widely acknowledged that academic writing presents more challenges to EFL learners compared with native English speakers.However,thesis proposals are to some extent neglected in empirical research.This study attempts to describe experience of three master students' learning to write thesis proposal process in a top Chinese language university.Under the theoretical background of cognitive developmental theory and situated learning theory,this research employs a case-study method from five perspectives: academic background,writing process,writing environment,cognition and attitude,and writing product.The analysis includes within-case analysis and cross-case analysis for triangulation.Analysis suggests that 1)Students' writing problems can be divided into problems about thesis proposal writing itself and problems about students themselves.2)Students employed cognitive strategies,social and affective strategies,as well as meta-cognitive strategies to mitigate these challenges.3)The findings serve as demonstration to some of the previous research while at the same time new findings occur.This research seeks to enhance first-hand resource in academic literacy and demonstrates the suitableness of case-study in academic writing research.Besides,the categorization in this research may shed some light on how to deal with multiple data in qualitative research.At the same time,it may provide students in similar context with a better understanding of and preparation for their situation.Simultaneously,supervisors and universities can draw implications from this study for supervising and curriculum design,and thus offer effective assistance to those novice EFL writers.