Writing for Publication in English: Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

This paper attempts to investigate English teachers’ perceptions about the importance of writing for publication in English, and the challenges that they encounter. The subjects were 30 teachers from 3 departments in a public college in Oman. The instrument was a 3-question survey on difficulties and challenges in writing for publication in English faced by the tutors. The respondents’ answers were analysed and classified. The results revealed two types of challenges identified initially: discursive (language-related) and non-discursive (non-language-related) challenges. A third challenge which has been termed others was discovered. The findings also highlighted the importance of the growing popularity of research activity by non-native English speakers in the non-English speaking countries. The study also suggested the key role higher education institutes should play in boosting research contributions by academic staff and curbing the problems of publishing in the English Language from a new standpoint.