Nghiên cứu về khó khăn khi viết luận văn dựa trên quan điểm của học viên cao học việt nam ngành lý luận và phương pháp dạy và học bộ môn tiếng anh và người hướng dẫn tại một trường đại học tại việt nam

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY TRAN THI MINH CHAU AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DIFFICULTIES IN THESIS WRITING PERCEIVED BY VIETNAMESE TESOL MA STUDENTS AND SUPERVISORS AT ONE VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2019 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY TRAN THI MINH CHAU AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DIFFICULTIES IN THESIS WRITING PERCEIVED BY VIETNAMESE TESOL MA STUDENTS AND SUPERVISORS AT ONE VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI BAO TRANG, PhD HUE, 2019 BỌ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ TRẦN THỊ MINH CHÂU NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỰ KHÓ KHĂN KHI VIẾT LUẬN VĂN DỰA TRÊN QUAN ĐIỂM CỦA HỌC VIÊN CAO HỌC VIỆT NAM NGÀNH LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH VÀ GIÁO VIÊN HƯỚNG DẪN TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở VIỆT NAM LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: NGUYỄN THỊ BẢO TRANG, TIẾN SĨ HUẾ, 2019 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Hue, October 16th, 2019 Tran Thi Minh Chau i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research has been so difficult to me without people helping and staying with me on this long journey First, I would like to give a deep appreciation to my supervisor, Mrs Nguyen Thi Bao Trang for her constant help, advice and encouragement throughout the research She has been very helpful and kind to me even when everything seemed to go wrong during the research Second, I would like to give a sincere gratitude to all the participants in this research Without these postgraduate students and lecturers who voluntarily participated in the questionnaire and interviews, I could not complete this study and have good results Finally, I would like to give my deep appreciation to my family and close friends who constantly support and encourage me to keep going forward ii ABSTRACT This study examined the difficulties Vietnamese TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Master (MA) students encountered while writing a thesis at one Vietnamese university The data were collected through the use of a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire from 29 TESOL MA students who completed their thesis in the academic year 2015-2017 Fifteen of these students and three supervisors participated in a subsequent semistructured interview The study found that English language proficiency, the genre of thesis writing and plagiarism were the key challenges in thesis writing perceived by students and supervisors The study also found that students had difficulty in relation to organization, critical thinking and access to the relevant literature when writing their thesis The findings revealed that writing the Introductory, the Literature review and Findings and Discussion chapter were the most challenging for students In particular, students mainly found it difficult to find the knowledge gaps in the Introductory chapter When writing the Literature review chapter, students had much difficulty in presenting and evaluating related theoretical frameworks, classifying literature coherently, evaluating previous studies, synthesizing results of related studies and establishing a connection among studies reviewed When writing the Findings and Discussion chapter, students found it difficult to link results back to the literature, analyze, interpret and discuss the findings It was found that lack of language proficiency, motivation and research experience were major factors causing their difficulties This study contributes to an understanding of Vietnamese TESOL MA students‟ difficulties in writing a thesis and has useful implications for the teachers of MA program and MA students Keywords: Vietnamese TESOL MA students, difficulties, thesis writing, the perceptions of supervisors and students iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LISTS OF TABLES vii LISTS OF CHARTS viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Significance of the study 1.3 Research aims and questions 1.4 Research scope 1.5 Organization of the research CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Academic writing in English 2.2 Thesis writing 2.3 Previous studies 2.3.1 Academic writing difficulties international students encounter while studying overseas 2.3.2 Difficulties MA students encounter in thesis writing in different disciplines while studying overseas 2.3.3 Academic writing difficulties TESOL students encounter when studying overseas 2.3.4 Difficulties TESOL MA students encounter in thesis writing in their home countries 10 2.3.5 Vietnamese TESOL MA students and thesis writing in Vietnam 11 2.4 Gaps in the literature 12 2.5 Chapter summary 13 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 14 iv 3.1 Data collection tools 14 3.1.1 Questionnaire 14 3.1.2 Interview 15 3.2 Data collection procedures 15 3.2.1 Questionnaire design 15 3.2.2 Questionnaire administration 17 3.2.3 Interview 18 3.2.3.1 Student interview 18 3.2.3.2 Supervisor interview 19 3.3 Data analysis 19 3.3.1 Questionnaire data 19 3.3.2 Interview data 20 3.4 Validity and Reliability 20 3.5 Chapter summary 20 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 21 4.1 Questionnaire findings 21 4.1.1 Participants‟ background information 21 4.1.2 Students‟ perceptions of difficulties before writing a thesis 21 4.1.3 Students‟ perceptions of difficulties while writing a thesis 26 4.1.3.1 Student‟s perceptions of general difficulties when writing a thesis 26 4.1.3.2 Difficulties related to writing the abstract 29 4.1.3.3 Difficulties related to writing the Introductory chapter 31 4.1.3.4 Difficulties related to writing the Literature review chapter 33 4.1.3.5 Difficulties related to writing the Methodology chapter 35 4.1.3.6 Difficulties related to writing the Findings and Discussion chapter 37 4.1.3.7 Difficulties related to writing the Conclusion and Implications chapter 40 4.2 Interview findings 42 4.2.1 English Language Proficiency (Grammar and Vocabulary) 42 v 4.2.2 The genre of thesis writing 43 4.2.3 Organization 45 4.2.4 Plagiarism 46 4.2.5 Critical Thinking 47 4.2.6 Access to the relevant literature 48 4.2.7 Factors causing difficulties when writing thesis perceived by the students 48 4.2.7.1 Lack of English language proficiency 49 4.2.7.2 Lack of motivation 49 4.2.7.3 Lack of research experience 49 4.3 Discussion 50 4.4 Chapter summary 52 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 53 5.1 Summary of key findings 53 5.2 Pedagogical implications 53 5.2.1 Implications for teachers of TESOL programs and supervisors 53 5.2.2 Implications for students 54 5.3 Limitations of the present study and recommendation for future research 55 5.5 Chapter summary 55 REFERENCES APPENDIX A APPENDIX B APPENDIX C vi LISTS OF TABLES Table 3.3 Description of the second part of the questionnaire 16 Table 3.1 The reliability of the questionnaire 17 Table 4.1: Students‟ perceived writing difficulties before thesis writing 22 Table 4.2 Students‟ perceived difficulties with the function of each thesis chapter 23 Table 4.3 Students‟ perceived difficulties with the content of each thesis chapter 24 Table 4.4 Students‟ perceived difficulties with the organization of each thesis chapter 25 Table 4.5 Students perceived difficulties while writing a thesis 26 Table 4.6 Students‟ perceptions of general difficulties related to thesis writing 27 Table 4.7 Students‟ perceptions of general difficulties 28 Table 4.8 Difficulties related to writing the abstract 29 Table 4.9 Difficulties related to writing the abstract 31 Table 4.10 Difficulties related to the Introductory chapter 32 Table 4.11 Difficulties related to the Introductory chapter 33 Table 4.12 Difficulties related to writing the Literature review chapter 34 Table 4.13 Difficulties related to writing the Literature review chapter 35 Table 4.14 Difficulties related to writing the Methodology chapter 36 Table 4.15 Difficulties related to writing the Methodology chapter 37 Table 4.16 Difficulties related to writing the Findings and Discussion chapter 38 Table 4.17 Difficulties related to writing the Findings and Discussion chapter 39 Table 4.19 Difficulties related to writing the Conclusion and Implications chapter 42 vii research is also one of the elements which motivate students to better; therefore, students should have a positive attitude towards conducting research 5.3 Limitations of the present study and recommendation for future research The present study is a small scale study First, it has quite small data sample with 29 MA students answering the questionnaire and 15 students and three supervisors participating in the interview Second, this study was carried out at one Vietnamese university Third, the present study only investigated MA TESOL students Thus, further studies should be carried out on a larger scale with more student and supervisor participants and in different institutions in Vietnam to seek insights that could inform MA program and students‟ thesis writing 5.5 Chapter summary This chapter has summarized the findings of the present study, and suggests the pedagogical implications for different stakeholders The limitations of the present study were also pointed out and some recommendations were provided for further research 55 REFERENCES Abdulkareem, M (2013) Investigation study of academic writing problems faced by Arab postgraduate students at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3(9), 1552-1557 Adams, W C (2005) Election Night News and Voter Turnout: Solving the Projection Puzzle Boulder, CO: Lynn Rienner Al Badi, I.A.H (2015) Academic writing difficulties of ESL learners Paper presented at the 2015 WEI International Academic Conference Proceedings Retrieved from https://www.westeastinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Ibtisam- AliHassan-Al-Badi-full-Paper.pdf Al Fadda, H (2012) Difficulties in academic writing: From the perspective of King Saud University postgraduate students English Language Teaching, 5(3), 123-130 AlHashemi, B I., AlSubaeie, M S & Shukri, N A (2017) Academic writing needs of TESOL postgraduate students in the Saudi context International Journal of English Language Education, 5(2), 151-163 https://doi.org/10.5296/ijele.v5i2.12235 Al-Khasawneh, F M S (2010) Writing for academic purposes: problems faced by Arab postgraduate students of the college of business, UUM, ESP World, 9(2), 1-23 Alsied, S M & Ibrahim, N W (2017) Exploring challenges encountered by EFL Libyan learners in research teaching and writing Journal of Language Learning, 3(2), 143-158 Al-Zubaidi, K O (2012) The academic writing of Arab postgraduate students: discussing the main language issues Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 66, 46-52 Ankawi, A (2015) The Academic writing challenges faced by Saudi students studying in New Zealand (Master of Arts thesis, the Auckland University of Technology) Retrieved from https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/handle/10292/9187 Arkoudis, S & Tran, L T (2007) International students in Australia: Read ten thousand volumes of books walk ten thousand miles Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 27(2), 157-169 https://doi.org/10.1080/02188790701378792 56 Atkinson, D (1997) A critical approach to critical thinking in TESOL TESOL Quartely, 31(1), 72-95 Bitchener, J & Basturkmen, H (2006) Perceptions of the difficulties of postgraduate L2 thesis students writing the discussion section Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 5(1), 4-18 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2005.10.002 Braun, V & Clarke, V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2),77-101 Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a795127197~fr m=titlelink Bushesha, M., Mtae, H., Msindai, J & Mbogo, S (2012) Challenges facing and students in the process of writing theses/dissertations under ODL: experiences from The Open University of Tanzania African Journals Online, 12(1), 118-131 Campbell, J & Li, M (2016) Asian students‟ voice: an empirical study of Asian students‟ learning experiences at a New Zealand University Journal of Studies in International Education, 20(10), 1-22 https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315307299422 Casanave, C P (2010) Distancing: From real life experiences to final research reprort in qualitative inquiry with multilingual participants Paper presented at the the 2010 Symposium on Second Language Writing, University of Murcia, Spain Chang, E C (2006) An investigation into thesis/dissertation writing experiences of Mandarin-speaking students in New Zealand Unpublished master dissertation Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand Dörnyei, Z (2007) Research Methods in Applied Linguistics Oxford: Oxford University Press Dwihandini, L A., Marhaeni, A A I N & Suarnajaya, I W (2013) The analysis of the factors affecting undergraduate students‟ difficulties in writing thesis in the English department of Mahasaraswati university EJournal Program Pascasarjana Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha Ekpoh, U I (2016) Postgraduate studies: the challenges of research and thesis writing Journal of Educational and Social Research, 6(3), 67-74 Gillham, B (2000) Case Study Research Methods Continuum, London Gurel, N (2011) Challenges of dissertation writing in the foreign language and strategies used: the perceptions of dissertation supervisors EKEV Academic Review, 49, 217-234 57 Irvin, L L (2010) What is “academic” writing? Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing(1) Jones, A (2005) Culture and context: critical thinking and student learning in introductory macroeconomics Studies in Higher Education, 30(3), 339354 Keong, Y C & Mussa, I H (2015) Academic writing difficulties of Iraqi postgraduate students in Malaysia International Journal of Education and Research, 3(6), 25-34 Kho, M.G.W., & Muhammad, Y.Y (2013) Writing difficulties faced by Postgraduate TESOL students Proceedings of the USM-PPIP TESOL Colloquium, 258-280 Khorsheed, A (2018) How we can find the cut off score of the scale tool? Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_we_can_find_the_Cut_off_score_ of_the_Scale_tool Komba, S C (2015) Challenges of writing theses and dissertations among postgraduate students in Tanzanian higher learning institutions International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 5(3), 71-80 Lalasz, C B., Doane, M J., Springer, V A & Dahir, V B (2014) Examining the effect of prenotification postcards on online survey response rate in a university Graduate Sample, Survey Practice,7(3), 1-7 Matin, M A & Khan, M A W (2017) Common problems faced by postgraduate students during their thesis works in Bangladesh Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education, 8(1), 22-27 Mousavi, H S & Kashefian-Naeein, S (2011) Academic writing problems of Iranian post-graduate students at national university of Malaysia (UKM) European Journal of Social Sciences, 23(4), 593-603 Nguyen, T T L (2017) TESOL master‟s dissertation writing in Vietnam: Problems and genre-based remedial suggestions The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 6(1), 173-194 Nguyen, T T L & Pramoolsook, I (2014a) A move-based structure of the master's thesis literature review chapters by Vietnamese TESOL postgraduates LangLit: An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal, 1(2), 282-301 58 Nguyen, T T L & Pramoolsook, I (2014b) Rhetorical structure of introduction chapters written by Novice Vietnamese TESOL postgraduates 3L; Language, Linguistics and Literature, The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 20(1), 61-74 Nguyen, T T L & Pramoolsook, I (2015) A move analysis of method chapters by Vietnamese TESOL master's students Research Scholar: An International Refereed e-Journal of Literary Explorations, 3(1), 14-28 Nguyen, T T L & Pramoolsook, I (2016) Master‟s theses written by Vietnamese and international writers: rhetorical structure variations The Asian ESP Journal Nguyen, T T L & Pramoolsook, I (2016) A move-based analysis of TESOL master‟s thesis conclusion chapters by Vietnamese postgraduates Global Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 6(1), 02-12 Nguyen, B T T & Pennycook, A (2018) Dancing, Google and fish sauce: Vietnamese students coping with Australian universities, Asia Pacific Journal of Education https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2018.1493981 Paltridge, B (2002) Thesis and dissertation writing: An examination of published advice and actual practice English for Specific Purposes, 21(2), 125-143 https:// doi.org/10.1016/s0889-4906(00)00025-9 Peng, H (2018) Supervisors‟ views of the generic difficulties in thesis/dissertation writing of Chinese EFL research students The Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5(1), 93-103 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 Phan, L H (2001) How culturally situated notions of “polite” forms influence the way Vietnamese postgraduate students write academic English in Australia? Australian Journal of Education, 45(3), 296-308 Qian, J & Krugly-Smolska, E (2008) Chinese graduate students‟ experiences with writing a literature review TESL Canada Journal, 26(1), 68 - 86 https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v26i1.391 Rahmat, N H., Arepin, M., Yunos, D R M & Rahman, S A S A (2017) Analyzing perceived writing difficulties through the social cognitive theory People: International Journal of Social Sciences, 3(2), 1487-1499 59 Safari, Y., Navazeshkhah, F., Azizi, M., Ziaei, M & Sharafi, K (2015) The effective factors on the postgraduate students' interest and participation in performing research activities case Study: Kermanshah University of Medical Science Future of Medical Education Journal, 5(2), 3-9 Sawir, E., Marginson, S., Forbes-Mewett, H., Nyland, C & Ramia, G (2012) International students security and English language proficiency Journal of Studies in International Education, 16(5), 434-454 Shabanza, K J (2013) Struggling with postgraduate studies: Bachelor of Technology students writing academic genres Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa University of South Africa, Pretoria Singh, M K M (2016) International graduate students‟ academic writing practices in Malaysia: challenges and solutions Journal of International Students, 5(1), 12-22 Srikrai, P S., Lin, D., Lakaisone, S & Sirinthorn, S (2016) English language difficulties of non-native English postgraduate students in an English for Academic Purposes at a Thai university Retrieved from https://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/cls/CLaSIC/clasic2016/PROCEEDINGS/srikr ai_suphawat_phiphawin.pdf Wang, T & Li, L Y (2008) Understanding international postgraduate research students‟ challenges and pedagogical needs in thesis writing International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 4(3), 88-96 https://doi.org/10.5172/ijpl.4.3.88 Wearring, A., Le, H., Wilson, R & Arambewela, R (2015) The international student‟s experience: An exploratory study of students from Vietnam The International Education Journal : Comparative Perspectives, 14(1), 71-89 Xia, W & Luxin, Y (2012) Problems and strategies in learning to write a thesis proposal: a study of six M.A students in a TEFL program Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistic, 35(3), 259-263 Yin, R K (2011) Qualitative research from start to finish New York: The Guilford Press Zhang, Y & Mi, Y (2010) Another look at the language difficulties of international students Journal of Studies in International Education, 14(4), 371-388 60 APPENDIX A My name is Tran Thi Minh Chau I am currently studying for my Master degree at Hue University of Foreign Languages My thesis aims to explore the academic writing difficulties faced by Master students in TESOL program during their thesis works This is an important study and its findings could inform MA education and particularly writing pedagogy I therefore would like to invite you to participate in this study by completing the questionnaire below, which takes approximately 10 minutes If you are also willing to take part in an in-depth interview later on, we could meet at a time and location that is convenient to you If you wish, we could talk through phone or viber calls I am sincerely thankful for your participation in my study Questionnaire Section 1: Background information: Fill in the blank to clarify your personal information: Age: Current job: Tick (√) the information that is relevant to you Gender: male female Your general level of English: Intermediate Upper-intermediate Advanced Your IELTS writing score (if available): Less than 5 5.5 6.5 and above Your writing level, if you haven‟t taken an IELTS test yet: weak good very good excellent Section 2: Academic writing difficulties Before writing your thesis Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each of the statements below Tick (√) the corresponding column I strongly agree I agree I don‟t know I disagree I strongly disagree Before writing your thesis, you found it difficult to know well the function/purpose of: 1.1 the abstract 1.2 the introductory chapter 1.3 the literature review chapter 1.4 the methodology chapter 1.5 the findings and discussion chapter 1.6 the conclusion and implication chapter Before writing your thesis, you found it difficult to know well what content to address in: 2.1 the abstract 2.2 the introductory chapter 2.3 the literature review chapter 2.4 the methodology chapter 2.5 the findings and discussion chapter 2.6 the conclusion and implication chapter Before writing your thesis, you found it difficult to organize the information in: 3.1 the abstract 3.2 the introductory chapter 3.3 the literature review chapter 3.4 the methodology chapter 3.5 the findings and discussion chapter 3.6 the conclusion and implication chapter During your thesis works Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each of the statements Tick (√) the corresponding column I strongly agree I agree I don‟t know I disagree I strongly disagree When you were writing your Master thesis in general, you found it difficult to: 5 1.1 use appropriate vocabulary to express intended meanings 1.2 define field-related terminology 1.3 use appropriate grammar 1.4 express ideas critically 1.5 represent cohesive, coherent paragraphs 1.6 avoid plagiarism (how to paraphrase or cite) 1.7 include three steps (planning, writing and revision) in my writing process 1.8 build a reference list 1.9 make in-text citations When you were writing the abstract, you found it difficult to: 2.1 limit the length of the abstract 2.2 describe the sequence of how/what was done logically 2.3 provide keywords 2.4 avoid writing complex sentences 2.5 describe the essential results of a paper 3 When you were writing the first chapter (Introduction), you found it difficult to: 3.1 indicate what is known and unknown, then leading to your study 3.2 clearly declare statement of the problem or indicate what had prompted to conduct your study 3.3 state research questions/hypotheses When you were writing the second chapter (Literature review), you found it difficult to: 4.1 describe previous studies that is relevant to your studies 4.2 choose which studies to review first 4.3 synthesize the results from related studies into a summary of what is known and is not known 4.4 provide a critical evaluation of previous studies 4.5 establish connection among studies I reviewed in the chapter 4.6 indicate gaps of knowledge 4.7.present and evaluate related theoretical frameworks 4.8 classify literature in a coherent and logical way When you were writing the third chapter (Methodology), you found it difficult to: 5.1 provide justifications for the selected research methods 5.2 describe data collection procedure 5.3 describe analysis of quantitative data 5.4 justify analysis of quantitative data 5.5 describe analysis of qualitative data 5.6 justify analysis of qualitative data 5.7 address the validity of my research 5.8 address the reliability of my research When you were writing the fourth chapter (Findings and Discussion), you found it difficult to: 6.1 visualise findings in the form of graphs, tables, charts, etc 6.2 report the findings from questionnaires 6.3 report findings from (quasi)-experiments 6.4 report findings from interviews 6.5 report findings from classroom observations 6.6 adequately analyze and interpret your findings 6.7 summarize the findings 6.8 discuss the findings 6.9 link the results back to the literature 6.10 express your own opinions about the findings of your study 6.11 reconsider key concepts in your study 6.12 link different parts of the findings/discussion chapter When you were writing the last chapter (Conclusion and Implication), you found it difficult to: 7.1 summarize the study briefly 7.2 indicate the limitations of my research 7.3 make recommendations for further research 7.4 draw pedagogic implications This is the end of the questionnaire Thank you for your contribution Information Sheet Study title: An investigation into academic writing difficulties faced by postgraduate students in TESOL program during their thesis works at Hue University of Foreign Languages Invitation: My name is Tran Thi Minh Chau, I am currently studying for my Master degree at Hue University of Foreign Languages.My thesis deals with the academic writing difficulties faced by postgraduate students in TESOL program during their thesis works and I would like to invite you to participate in my study Please note that participation in this study is entirely voluntary What happens in this study? If you are willing to participate in this research, you are kindly asked to complete a questionnaire online The questionnaire is about academic writing difficulties you encountered while writing your master thesis The questionnaire is in Vietnamese and it will take approximately 15 minutes to complete You will be later invited to participate in an interview with me The interview is in Vietnamese, and is supposed to last about 30 minutes The interview will be audio recorded for accuracy as you permit me to Importantly, you may withdraw from the interview immediately if you feel uncomfortable What are the benefits? I think this study can be crucial to assist other MA students get better in writing their thesis in this field By exploring the experience of academic writing difficulties, I hope that we can learn from others‟ experiences in order to be more aware of our learning process The findings hopefully give a deep insight into academic writing difficulties faced by postgraduate students so that something should be done by supervisors and university authorities to assist postgraduate students later on How will my privacy be protected? All your answers in this study will be treated as confidential and you will be not identified in any way in this study During the interview or answering the questionnaire, you may also withdraw at any time without any consequences What I if I have concerns about this study? if you need any further information about this study, please feel free to contact me via email or mobilephone: Tran Thi Minh Chau, minhchau1156@gmail.com, phone: 0788529111 Request for interview I am interested in finding more in-depth information about your academic writing difficulties during your thesis works If you are willing to share your experience with me, I am very happy to go with you The interview will be conducted in Vietnamese or English (it‟s up to your choice) Please supply your name, phone number and a place that is convenient for you I will contact you in order to arrange the specific time Name: Phone No: Place: APPENDIX B Interview questions for TESOL MA students Could you tell me about yourself? (your job, age, working experience ) What difficulties did you encounter when writing each thesis chapter? Why Do you think culture was one of the causes limiting the development of your personal voice in your thesis writing? Why? Which chapters were the most difficult to you? Why? What factors you think affected your difficulties while writing your MA thesis? Why? APPENDIX C Interview questions for supervisors Could you tell me about yourself? Your name, age, your supervision experience (how long, how many Master students have you already supervised?) In your opinion, what difficulties you think your Master students encountered in writing their thesis? Which chapters you think they struggled the most? Why you think these problems occur? How have you helped them? What you think these students need to develop in order to meet the writing requirements of a Master thesis?