Thesis writing for international students: A question of identity?

Abstract

International postgraduates in the humanities and social sciences face particular challenges in writing English language theses, and in my experience often express these challenges negatively despite all the helpful explanations which they receive about our practices and conventions. A significant cause of difficulty may lie in the different epistemologies in which these students have been trained and in which their identities as learners are rooted. In this paper I explore this issue of identity in relation to postgraduate argument texts and examine research students' own perceptions about their writing experience. The clear associations which these students make between their self-concepts as learners and their English language texts have, I suggest, significant implications for pedagogic practice. © 1997 The American University.