Investigating challenges in thesis writing for non-native MA students of English: The case of second-year MA students of English in Algeria

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the challenges that non-native English-speaking students face when writing a thesis. In order to explore this issue, a quantitative research method was used, by means of a survey questionnaire, which addresses MA students of English in three universities in Algeria. Consequently, in order to find out the challenges they face when writing a thesis, a questionnaire was designed and administered as the main instrument of the study. The total number of participants was 120 second-year MA students. The data was analyzed statistically using the SPSS program. The findings show that second-year MA students face challenges in writing a thesis, such as citing references and following the academic guidelines while the discussion section of a thesis is considered the most difficult part to write during this process.