This study examines the challenges that Chinese graduate students face with academic writing in English. The researcher conducted a qualitative study with 16 Chinese graduate students at a university in Canada through observations and questionnaires. The study aimed to understand the difficulties these students experience with writing for their graduate-level programs due to differences in their linguistic and cultural backgrounds compared to native English speakers.

1. DISCOVERING EMERGING RESEARCH IN
A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF ESL
ACADEMIC WRITING
Jim Hu
Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops,
British Columbia, Canada

2. Research analysis
• This research has a qualitative approach. The study is
about students from China that are pursuing graduate
studies in English-speaking countries and many of them
study at the doctoral level.
• Academic writing in English at advanced levels is a
challenge for most native English speakers. However, it
becomes particularly difficult for ESL graduate students
who come from non-Anglicized linguistic and cultural
backgrounds, in particular, Chinese graduate students
and that’s the purpose of the study to prove that students
from China have more difficulties in academic writings.
• They had 16 participants. They used observation and
questionnaires with questions and sub questions.

3. Author’s decision
• In my opinion the author did a qualitative research
because it was a field research. The author wanted to
know the main reasons of this problem or question but
since the bottom of the problem. The author mentions that
he wanted to know how the students felt while writing in
English, he wanted them to describe the experience and
he wanted to know if cultural aspect affected them in their
learning process and this is part of a qualitative research.

4. HTTP://WWW.NOVA.EDU/SSSS/QR/QR14-4/HU.PDF