Academic Writing Difficulties Encountered by University EFL Learners

Abstract

The present study was conducted with the aim to discover the major difficulties encountered by some university students in academic writing. It also aimed to find out the factors that hinder their academic writing skills. 36 students majoring in English at the Faculty of Education, University of Benghazi took part in this study. A questionnaire with 25 items was utilized to answer the stated research questions. The data analysis revealed that both graduate and undergraduate students have some problems in academic writing such as choosing the appropriate academic words, difficulty in developing a thesis statement, organizing ideas, and writing coherent paragraphs. These challenges were influenced by a lack of resources followed by a low English language proficiency and a lack of writing practice opportunities. It is hoped that the findings of this research would provide great benefits to the instructors of the English language and curriculum designers to address the writing difficulties that might be encountered by learners of English.