37.383, Diss: English; Applied Linguistics, Text/Corpus Linguistics: Dedy Subandowo: "Challenges in Academic Writing: A Mixed-Methods Study of Indonesian GraduateStudents in a Non-native English-Speaking Environment"

Wed Jan 28 16:05:02 UTC 2026

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-383. Wed Jan 28 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.383, Diss: English; Applied Linguistics, Text/Corpus Linguistics: Dedy Subandowo: "Challenges in Academic Writing: A Mixed-Methods Study of Indonesian GraduateStudents in a Non-native English-Speaking Environment"

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Date: 27-Jan-2026
From: Dedy Subandowo [dedy.subandowo at ummetro.ac.id]
Subject: Challenges in Academic Writing: A Mixed-Methods Study of Indonesian GraduateStudents in a Non-native English-Speaking Environment

Institution: Doctor/PhD
Degree Date: 2025

Dissertation Title: Challenges in Academic Writing: A Mixed-Methods
Study of Indonesian GraduateStudents in a Non-native English-Speaking
Environment

Dissertation URL:
https://btk.ppke.hu/storage/tinymce/uploads/dissertation_dedy_subandowo.pdf?u=1fLY5W

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
                     Text/Corpus Linguistics

Subject Language(s): English (eng)

Dissertation Director(s): Prof. Dr. Csilla Sárdi

Dissertation Abstract:

Writing an academic text can be challenging for English learners,
including Indonesian students studying at Hungarian Universities
(HUs). These students must learn to write in a second language while
mastering grammatical structures and lexical resources, as well as
distinguishing between academic English and conversational English in
terms of conventional words, phrases,and sentence structures.This
study is aimed at examining students’ experiences in English academic
writing during their master’s studies at HUs. The research focuses on
students enrolled in seven degree programs(representing the areas of
business and economics within the field of social sciences) across six
HUs. The investigation centers on topics focusing on challenges,
supports, attitudes, and strategies in writing academic essays.
Additionally, this dissertation also looks at information density in
the students’ texts. Information density (ID) was selected as a key
focus for this research because it is one fundamental element of
academic writing, reflecting students’ ability to express complex
ideas effectively. This feature conveys maximum meaning with minimal
wordiness in the limited space of a sentence. Moreover, ID often
serves as an indicator to distinguish between lower and higher levels
of writing proficiency.This research employed a mixed-methods study
inspired by Creswell's (2009) basic convergent design. Eleven MA and
MSc students participated in the study. Data collection was conducted
using two checklists, one for the semi-structured interviews and one
for the academic writing strategy use. Additionally, the participants
also submitted their essays (n=32) for the study.Data analysis was
performed using Web Speech API from Google, ATLAS.ti, Coh-Metrix, and
Microsoft Excel Analysis ToolPak. The results suggest that the
students face challenges in writing English academic essays across 47
themes, which can be classified into four main categories: challenges
in the writing process (n = 18), challenges related to the subject
course (n = 19), challenges regarding institutional policy (n = 5),
and challenges related to external factors (n = 5). In terms of
academic writing support, 24 themes emerged and were categorized into
three groups: institutional policies (n = 8),subject courses (n = 8),
and the students' prior experiences and knowledge in academic writing
(n= 8). As for attitude, nine themes were identified and grouped into
two groups: positive attitudes toward the class of English for
academic writing in a non-native English-speaking environment (nv= 3)
and positive attitudes toward English academic essay assignments in a
non-native English-speaking environment (n = 6).In terms of academic
writing strategies, the students employed 82 strategies across the
three writing stages: pre-writing (n = 29), writing (n = 49), and
post-writing (n = 4). Furthermore, based on the writing strategy
taxonomy classification, the study identified 36 subcategories,
including cognitive strategies (n = 18), metacognitive strategies (n =
9), social strategies (n = 4), and affective strategies (n = 5). Among
these, cognitive strategies were the most frequently used by the
participants, with C1-level students utilizing more strategies than
B2-level students.Regarding information density (ID), this research
suggests both B2-level and C1-level texts contain more content words
than function words. Academic essays produced by C1-level students
appear to be more lexically dense compared to those written by
B2-level students. Likewise, texts written by C1-level students
exhibited a higher frequency of expanded noun phrases (NPs) across
semesters, indicating that their academic writing involves more
complex NPs by adding modifiers to compact information and maximize
meaning. Furthermore, the manifestation of nominalization in both
student groups (B2 and C1) reflects a shift from concrete to more
abstract expressions,with C1-level texts showing a higher frequency of
nominalization than B2 student texts. On that account, the
distribution of ID in C1-level texts remained relatively more stable
than in B2-leveltexts across semesters.Finally, the study provides
several practical suggestions for pedagogical
implications,specifically for the targeted universities in this
research project. These suggestions include offering more English for
academic writing (EAW) courses within faculties, with a key focus on
the manifestation of information density, improving resource
availability (e.g., enhancing subject teachers' English proficiency,
clarifying assignment requirements), and supporting students’ academic
writing skill development (e.g., fostering teacher-student engagement
in research collaboration)

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