This article reports on an empirical study that examines general academic difficulties, and academic reading and writing difficulties among Asian ESL (English as a Second Language) international postgraduate students who are completing a Master's Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at an Australian university. The data were collected through the use of a Likert-scale questionnaire from 51 students and a follow-up, semi-structured interview technique with 11 participants who took part in the questionnaire survey. It was found that: (1) students reported different types of academic difficulties including reading and writing such as synthesizing information and academic writing; (2) there were strong associations among general academic difficulties, academic reading and writing difficulties; and (3) factors such as academic English proficiency, self-regulation, motivation, self-efficacy, former learning experience and academic adjustment had an impact on their academic difficulties. This article will articulate the implications for second language teacher education research and future research. © SAGE Publications 2011.
CITATION STYLE
Phakiti, A., & Li, L. (2011). General academic difficulties and reading and writing difficulties among Asian ESL postgraduate students in TESOL at an Australian University. RELC Journal, 42(3), 227–264. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688211421417
Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.