Exploring Vietnamese EFL postgraduate students’ competence in research writing

Thanh Thai Nguyen

doi:10.31893/multirev.2025148

Keywords:

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the competency of Vietnamese EFL postgraduate students in research writing, particularly in information-seeking and source usage with the hope of providing valuable insights for instructors to enhance their guidance roles and help universities decide whether to prioritize research writing in their undergraduate and postgraduate training programs. The participants were 29 EFL postgraduate students from a university in Binh Duong province, Vietnam. A nine-item questionnaire and unstructured interviews were employed as the primary research instruments to evaluate these students' competence in research writing. The survey was conducted in two phases. First, the questionnaire survey was conducted directly in class, where detailed instructions were provided to guide students in completing the questionnaire. Subsequently, the researcher conducted unstructured interviews with students who demonstrated high competence in research writing, in order to ensure the validity and reliability of the quantitative data. The statistical results indicated that while most participants were partially capable of finding information and using sources, they faced challenges in evaluating sources, synthesizing information from multiple sources, and properly citing and referencing. To develop the Vietnamese EFL postgraduate students’ research writing competence, the study recommends that instructors should guide and support students in evaluating sources. Additionally, students should receive training in synthesizing information from multiple sources and in properly citing and referencing their work.
References
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4. Almatarneh, A. H. M., Radzuwan, A. R., & Kamariah, Y. (2018). The academic writing experience of Jordanian postgraduate students at a university in Malaysia. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), 9(3), 248-257. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3258808
5. Aunurrahman, Hamied, F. A., & Emilia, E. (2017). Exploring the tertiary EFL students' academic writing competencies. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(1), 72-79. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v7i1.6860
6. Bakri, H. (2023). Rhetorical strategies for teaching essay writing: A case study involving Saudi ESL students. Arab World English Journals, 14(2), 126-137. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4497526
7. Bandaranaike, S., & Willison, J. (2015). Building capacity for work-readiness: Bridging the cognitive and affective domains. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 16(3), 223-233.
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12. Gorshkova, O. O. (2017). Preparing students for research activities in the context of competence-oriented engineering education. Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, 9(2), 1445-1467. https://doi.org/10.4314/jfas.v9i2s.853
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31. Supsiloani, Badaruddin, Ismail, R., & Aisyah, D. (2021). Integrating multicultural education in school curriculum. In Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Languages and Arts (ICLA 2021), Padang, Indonesia. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211129.032
32. Vaganova, O. I., Lapshova, A. V., Kutepov, M. M., Tatarnitseva, S. N., & Vezetiu, E. V. (2020). Technologies for organizing research activities of students at the university. Amazonia Investiga, 9(25), 369-375.
33. Willison, J., Sabir, F., & Thomas, J. (2017). Shifting dimensions of autonomy in students’ research and employment. Higher Education Research & Development, 36(2), 430-443. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2016.1178216
34. Wu, Y., & Schunn, C. D. (2021). The effects of providing and receiving peer feedback on writing performance and learning of secondary school students. American Educational Research Journal, 58(3), 492–526. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831220945266

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to cite

Nguyen, T. T. (2024). Exploring Vietnamese EFL postgraduate students’ competence in research writing. Multidisciplinary Reviews, 8(5), 2025148. https://doi.org/10.31893/multirev.2025148

[1] Abdulkareem, M. N. (2013). An 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.

[2] Aleksandrova, N. N., & Sluchayna, L. (2018). Formation of research competence of future economists in the process of mastering foreign languages. Journal of Advanced Research in Law and Economics, 9(8), 2517-2529. https://doi.org/10.14505//jarle.v9.8(38).01

[3] Alghamdi, A. K. H., & Deraney, P. (2018). Teaching research skills to undergraduate students using an active learning approach: A proposed model for preparatory-year students in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(2), 184-194.

[4] Almatarneh, A. H. M., Radzuwan, A. R., & Kamariah, Y. (2018). The academic writing experience of Jordanian postgraduate students at a university in Malaysia. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), 9(3), 248-257. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3258808

[5] Aunurrahman, Hamied, F. A., & Emilia, E. (2017). Exploring the tertiary EFL students' academic writing competencies. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(1), 72-79. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v7i1.6860

[6] Bakri, H. (2023). Rhetorical strategies for teaching essay writing: A case study involving Saudi ESL students. Arab World English Journals, 14(2), 126-137. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4497526

[7] Bandaranaike, S., & Willison, J. (2015). Building capacity for work-readiness: Bridging the cognitive and affective domains. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 16(3), 223-233.

[8] Brick, J. (2011). Academic Culture: A Student’s Guide to Study at University. Macmillan

[9] Cuayzon, M. C. (2024). Research writing competence of grade 12 students: Towards research culture improvement. Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2(9), 22-31. https://doi.org/10.69569/jip.2024.0311

[10] Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Press.

[11] Edhah, N. K. (2019). Improving postgraduates’ academic writing skills with summarizing strategy. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), 10(3), 413-428. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3466042

[12] Gorshkova, O. O. (2017). Preparing students for research activities in the context of competence-oriented engineering education. Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, 9(2), 1445-1467. https://doi.org/10.4314/jfas.v9i2s.853

[13] Griffee, D. T. (2012). An Introduction to Second Language Research Methods: Design and Data. TESL-EJ Publications.

[14] Gu, X., & Xu, Z. (2021). Sustainable development of EFL learners’ research writing competence and their identity construction: Chinese novice writer-researchers’ metadiscourse use in English research articles. Sustainability, 13(17), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179523

[15] Hart, E. K., & Annear, C. M. (2020). Research coherence: A framework for successful student research. College Teaching, 68(3), 112–123. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2020.1758022

[16] Jackson, D. (2016). Skill mastery and the formation of graduate identity in bachelor graduates: Evidence from Australia. Studies in Higher Education, 41(7), 1313–1332. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.981515

[17] Jomaa, N. J., & Bidin, S. J. (2017). Perspectives of EFL doctoral students on challenges of citations in academic writing. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, 14(2), 177–209. https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2017.14.2.7

[18] Jomaa, N. J., & Bidin, S. J. (2019). Variations in the citation use and perceptions in writing the literature review by EFL postgraduates. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5(3), 441-460. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.651398

[19] Kuo, Y. (2009). The role of a mentor in undergraduates’ research writing process. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=research+writing &id=ED512625. Accessed on May 30th 2024.

[20] McMillan, J. H. (1987). Enhancing college students’ critical thinking: A review of studies. Research in Higher Education, 26(1), 3–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00991931

[21] Missingham, D., Cheong, M., Serfas, L., Phadke, D., & Symes, M, (2016). Validating student-led learning initiatives in problem solving: A cross institutional case study. In Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (pp. 598-609). Coffs Harbour, Australia.

[22] Nguyen, T. T., & Du, T. T. (2024). An exploration on critical reading skills of M.A. English majors at Thu Dau Mot University. J-SHMIC: Journal of English for Academic, 11(2), 135–145. https://doi.org/10.25299/jshmic.2024.vol11(2).18110

[23] Peters, A. W., Tisdale, V. A., & Swinton, D. J. (2019). High-impact educational practices that promote student achievement in STEM. Diversity in Higher Education, 22, 183-196. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-364420190000022008

[24] Pu, S., & Evans, M. (2018). Critical thinking in the context of Chinese postgraduate students’ thesis writing: A positioning theory perspective. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 32(1), 50-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2018.1442473

[25] Ramadhanti, R., Oktaviana, F., Tarihoran, N., & Fitriani, D. (2023). Challenges, strategies, and digital media use in writing research articles: A study of EFL postgraduate students. Scope: Journal of English Language Teaching, 8(1), 167–175. http://dx.doi.org/10.30998/scope.v8i1.17385

[26] Saw, E. P., & Jiang, S. (2020). The significance of interdisciplinary integration in academic research and application. BIO Integration, 1(1), 2-5. https://doi.org/10.15212/bioi-2020-0005

[27] Setiawan, H. J., & Islami, N. (2020). Improving critical thinking skills of senior high school students using the problem based learning model. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1655(1), 012060. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1655/1/012060

[28] Shahsavar, Z., Kourepaz, H., & Bulut, S. (2020). Postgraduate students’ difficulties in writing their theses literature review. Cogent Education, 7(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2020.1784620

[29] Snape, D., & Spencer, L. (2003). The Foundations of Qualitative Research. In J. Ritchie & J. Lewis (Eds.), Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers (pp. 77-108). Sage Publications.

[30] Supriyadi, T., Saptani, E., Rukmana, A., Suherman, A., Alif, M N., & Rahminawati, N. (2020). Students' technological literacy to improve academic writing and publication quality. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(11B), 6022-6035. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2020.082238

[31] Supsiloani, Badaruddin, Ismail, R., & Aisyah, D. (2021). Integrating multicultural education in school curriculum. In Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Languages and Arts (ICLA 2021), Padang, Indonesia. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211129.032

[32] Vaganova, O. I., Lapshova, A. V., Kutepov, M. M., Tatarnitseva, S. N., & Vezetiu, E. V. (2020). Technologies for organizing research activities of students at the university. Amazonia Investiga, 9(25), 369-375.

[33] Willison, J., Sabir, F., & Thomas, J. (2017). Shifting dimensions of autonomy in students’ research and employment. Higher Education Research & Development, 36(2), 430-443. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2016.1178216

[34] Wu, Y., & Schunn, C. D. (2021). The effects of providing and receiving peer feedback on writing performance and learning of secondary school students. American Educational Research Journal, 58(3), 492–526. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831220945266

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