ABSTRACT

Nawangsih. 2021. Challenges in Academic Writing and Potential Strategies: From the
Perspective of EFL Student Teachers. Thesis, English Education Study Program and Art
Department. Faculty of Teacher Training and Education of Universitas Jambi in
Academic Year 2022/2023. The first supervisor is Dr. Nunung Fajaryani, S.Pd., M.Pd.
The second supervisor is Dr. Mukhlash Abrar, S. S., M. Hum.

Key words: academic writing, students’ challenges, students’ strategies, EFL student teacher.

At the university level, academic writing skill is a concern to be mastered by the students.
However, academic writing is considered a challenging skill, particularly from the perspective of
EFL contexts. The purposes of this research were to investigate the academic writing challenges
faced by EFL student teachers and to explain how they overcome those challenges. The research
was conducted in the English Department of one university in Jambi. The theoretical framework
of cultural capital was used to guide the research. This research used a qualitative research
design with a case study approach while the data were collected through semi-structured in-depth
interviews and document analysis. Purposive sampling was used to determine the research
samples. Due to Covid-19 pandemic, only eight student teachers voluntarily agreed to participate
in this research – they were three male and five female student teachers. Thematic analysis was
used to analyze the data. The result of the research revealed that 1) there were sixth major themes
of challenges including mechanics of writing, socio-cultural, psychological aspects, critical
thinking skills, unity, and writing literature review, 2) the student teachers used strategies to
overcome those challenges including metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies, and social
strategies.