People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

08 MAI 1945 UNIVERSITY / GUELMA ‫ قالمة‬/1945 ‫ ماي‬08 ‫جامعة‬

FACULTY OF LETTERS AND LANGUAGES ‫كلية اآلداب واللغات‬

DEPARTMENT OF LETTERS & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ‫قسم اآلداب واللغة االنجليزية‬

Conducting Master2 Research Projects:

EFL Students’ Perceived Challenges

The case of Master Two researchers, Department of English, University of Guelma

A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English Language in Practical

Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in Language and
Culture.

Candidate Supervisor
Imen Dafri Ms. Amina Elaggoune

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Chairwoman:Mrs. ImaneTabouch (M.A.A) University of 8 Mai 1945 Guelma

Supervisor: Ms. Amina Ellagoun (M.A.A) University of 8 Mai 1945 Guelma
Examiner: [Link] Douafer (M.A.A) University of 8 Mai 1945 Guelma

September 2021
Dedication

I dedicate this work to my beloved family, my father and mother who were always

guiding me to go through the right path. I also dedicate this work to my small family,

my husband for his encouragement.

Without forgetting to strongly thank my lovely sisters “Rania and Zahia” and my

dearest brother “Mohamed” who always giving me support, and all persons who

shared me difficult times all around the making of this works. Thank you so much.
Acknowledgements

First, I am extremely grateful to Allah who helped me to finish this work.

I would like to thank my supervisor Ms “ELAGGOUNE AMINA” for her

patience, guidance, and assistance throughout my work.

Special thanks go for both examiners Ms “Imane Tabouche” and Ms “Imane Douafer”

Who accepted to read my modest work.

I am also grateful to thank master two students who accepted to participate in this

work.
ABSTRACT

Research is a very vast term that can include various elements such as thesis,

dissertation, articles, and reports. In this study the focus is on the writing of the

dissertation, where it should follow certain norms and guidelines based on good

writing strategies. As a result, not all students can master this activity, and this is why

the majority would face certain problems and difficulties at the level of the writing

process. In this regards, (20) master two EFL students at the department of English at

Guelma University, have been chosen randomly as a sample for this research. On this

basis, hypothesis was held to show, what kind of difficulties that Master two students

face during their journey via the use of the questionnaire. The results revealed that

approximately 90% of the students are facing certain problems they try to overcome

them. Therefore, this study suggests some implications that would help those

researchers, in addition to showing them the correct process and guidelines that would

facilitate the work.

List of Abbriviations

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

LMD: License-Master- Doctorate

List of Figures

Figure1.1ResearchProcess…………………………………………………………5

Figure 1.2Thesis Outline…………………………………………………………..9

List of tables

[Link]’sPercentage…………………………………………………………29

Table2. Student’s Years of Studying English………………………………………29

Table3. Student’s EnglishChoice………………………………………………….30

Table4. Dissertation’s Easiness and difficulty………….…………………………33

Table5. Criterions of the Good Research………………………………………….38

 LIST OF GRAPHICS

Graphic1. English Difficulty……………………………………………………....31

Graphic2. Process of the Research………………………………………………..34

[Link] Accuracy in the Writing Process…………………………….35

Graphic4. Norms and Guidelines of the Dissertation……………………………...37

Graphic5. Problems and Difficulties of Dissertation’s Writing…………………..42

CONTENTS

DIDECATION………………………………………………………………………i

ACKNOWLEGMENT…………………………………………………………….ii

ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS……………………………………………………iv

LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………….iv

LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………….vi

LIST OF GRAPHICS………………………………………………………………vii

CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………viii

GENERAL INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………..1

1. Statement of the Problem…………………………………………………………1

2. Research Questions ………………………………………………………………2

3. Research Method and Data Gathering Tools……………………………………..2

4. Structure of the Research…………………………………………………………2

Chapter One: Research and Dissertation’s

Writing Problems

[Link] is a Research? ........................................................................................3

1.1 What Is a Dissertation? …………………………………………………….5

[Link] of Writing Dissertation…………………………………………….7

1.3 Research in EFL Context ……………………………………………….10

[Link] Background………………………………………………….10

1.4.1 Writing Theories…………………………………………………………12

1.4.2 Cognitive Science and Linguistic Theory………………………………..12

1.4.3 Social Constructionist Theory……………………………………………13

1.5Approaches to Writing……………………………………………………14

1.5.1The Product Approach……………………………………………………15

1.5.2 The Process Approach……………………………………………………16

1.5.3 Genre Approach…………………………………………………………..16

1.6 Different Writing Problems ………………………………………………..17

1.7 Research’s Difficulties in Dissertation Writing…………………………….19

1.8 Proposed Solutions for the Writing Problems……………………………22

Chapter Two: The Field Work

Introduction

2.1 Population and Sampling…………………………………………………….25

2.2 Description of the Research Tools………………………………………….25

2.3 Students’ Questionnaire…………………………………………………26

2.4 Administration of the Questionnaire……………………………………26

2.5Description of the Questionnaire……………………………………….27

2.7 Summary of Results and Findings from Student’s Questionnaire ……..44

Conclusion

General Conclusion

1. Concluding Remarks……………………………………………………….49

2. Pedagogical Implications…………………………………………………50

3. Limitations of the Study and Recommendations for Future Research …….51

References

Appendix: Students’ Questionnaire

French Abstract

Arabic Abstract
 1

GENERAL INTRODUCTIONS

Master two students are required to write their final dissertation in order to

graduate. However, the writing process of this latter should go through a strict process

like any other academic writing. As results, those students may face certain obstacles

that lead to certain difficulties; this is why this study was held to investigate real

problems encountered while writing the dissertation, in addition to providing some

solutions that would facilitate the work.

1. Statement of the Problem

In the Algerian university, each student should write his final dissertation in order

to graduate, but this kind of writing is not an easy task for all of them, researchers

may face different difficulties, and those difficulties differ from one researcher to

another based on several assumptions, they range from the language, time constraints,

lack of writing skill, personal problems. This study attempts to highlight those

problems which hamper researcher’s success and also aims to propose certain

solutions and advices that may at least diminish those difficulties.

2. Research Questions

1-What are the commons problems that Master two researchers encounter?

3- What are the proposed solutions that can help researchers to be over those

problems?

3. Research Methodology

Choosing a research method is an indispensible thing since it is necessary for the

successes of the practical side of the master dissertation. The most suitable method in
 2

this research is a “Descriptive one” because we are measuring the different

challenges, difficulties and problems encountered by the master researchers, in

addition to the use of the questionnaire dedicated to master two students.

4. Structure of the research

The present study is divided into two main chapters.

The first chapter on its own is divided into three sections;

Section one is concerned with the different terminology and its general definition like

the research, dissertation.

Section two is about the different theoretical backgrounds of the writing skill and

problems results from the lack of this later.

The last section is devoted for the main subject that concerns the challenges

encountered during the writing process, in addition to the proposed solutions for those

problems.
 3

Chapter One: Research and Dissertation’s

Writing Difficulties

1. What Is a Research?

A research is found out to gather the different information about a particular

subject or issue; it consists of the activity that imparts knowledge or skill via a

systematic, academic process (Mishra and Alock, 2017, p.1).

In other words, the research originates from the need of finding out information

about certain fact, through an academic process, and is conducted via a person or

persons called the researchers.

According to Plutchick as cited in Khan’s book (2008) “Research has its origin in

a term which means to go around or to explore ….. And is a combination of RE+

search” (P.2). Research consisted primary of the repetition of the previous researches

since this latter may be affected by different factors, ie: the research can be changed

according to its context; Young as cited in Kan, argued about this fact that the

research can either seek to find a totally new information or it can also be a repetition

or more precisely a revision of the old facts resulted from a certain research. So, since

it requires repetition of the previous studies, hence, the research always calls for the

renewals of the founded information and propose authentic solutions for the different

problems.

The major aim behind any research is to find factual information and real solutions

for certain problems, however, the aims of the research are classified into different

categories, and these are some examples:

 4

First, an exploratory or a formulative research, aims at realizing the proficiency of

something or discovering a totally new opinion about certain fact. Second, the

descriptive research tends to look for the specificities of certain character, condition

or a grouping. Third, the diagnostic research aims to set up the relationships between

something and the raison behind its occurrences, or its relation with another thing.

Last, the hypothesis testing- research, tends to approve hypothesis of a factual

connection between several variables (Mishra and Alock, 2017,p.2).

So, in brief, the research is found in a form of different kinds, and each type entails

certain objective or reason behind the occurrences of that research.

Although, the research varies from one type to another, but each kind of them

follows similar academic process, the following diagram illustrates the different

phases that each kind of research should follow:

Figur.1.1 Research Process

 5

The diagram above illustrates the phases that each kind of research should follow,

moving from the identification of the problem which is the important step in the

research to the other step of gathering the previous views about that fact via the

literature review, after that came the phase of hypothesizing and asking questions

about that problem, on the other side comes the practical part in the research which

consists of using the research tool to gather information, then the analysis of those

information and concluding by writing the results.

1.1 What Is a Dissertation?

“The dissertation is often a compilation of academic and practical knowledge,

and in many cases, it can be the student’s first” publication” (Dina manns,2019)

as cited in Guessabi,(2020,p.67)

In other word, this kind of academic written piece, should contains all what the

students have been grasping during the years of education and as a result, it proofs the

level of each student since it acts as the first official academic publication that will

shape his or her career.

Guessabi(2020), argues in her article that a dissertation is a long composition between

ten and twenty thousand words, it is written by student on a particular subject, this

latter can be either chosen by the researcher himself or picked out from the list of

themes founded in the department. She added that the origins of the word dissertation

comes from the Latin word “dissertate” , which means to debate. So, the real

explanation of the identification of the dissertation is mainly to argue about certain

topic or fact, this of course should be done in a logical and reasonable way ie:

gathering authentic arguments about the given topic, and the topic on the other hand,
 6

can be chosen from the student’s own choice or from supervisor’s or department’s

choice.

Evans (2014) argued that the dissertation requires a mastery of two main

elements, which consists of the topic or the chosen subject and the methodology, he

added that a dissertation acts as a proof of the researcher’s understanding on the field

of research, or simply that the researcher has the necessary baggage of knowledge

about the subject on one hand, and the right perception of the different

methodological rules on the other hand. For example, his capacity of interpreting the

research findings, following the right structure of the dissertation and its stages,

referencing ….. (Guessabi, 2020, P.66-67).

The dissertation is done under the supervision of the so called “Advisor” as Bailey

and Scarrow(2010), argued in their article, the advisor is a person who guides the

researcher during the writing of the dissertation, he or she can be chosen directly by

the researcher and in rare cases by the department if the latter founded difficulties in

choosing one (p.1)

The research advisor plays a great role in the successes of the dissertation, the

researcher must be very prudent in choosing the good supervisor, who should be so

conscious about the field of study chosen, has the needed capacity to fulfill the

researcher’s needs and can easily manipulate the sentiment of the researcher (Rivera

2007, 4) In other words the supervisor should have enough wisdom, knowledge and

techniques to better the researcher and motivate him, help the researcher whenever

needed, the supervisor also should provide him with the necessary tips, material and

moral support, and this of sure would be reflected in the work via the mutual

association between them .

 7

1.2 Norms of Writing Dissertation:

Writing existed in different forms and shapes. The creative writing as an example

necessitates the use of fiction and personal specific etymology to tell stories or write

certain genres of short books. The personal writing on the other hand, requires the use

of spontaneous words and sentences without any formality since it is about writings

between friends and family, however, the academic writing consists of the act of

writing in academia or under an academic institution, it requires at the first place

formality and a sort of rules and techniques that are not founded in other types of

writing (Oshima and hogue, 2007, p.3).

The dissertation is one of the compositions under the academic writing and it must

follow certain norms and guidelines to be well qualified and clear from mistakes.

Linda Childers Hon (2007) argued that the first necessary step before writing the

dissertation is “to get started”, this phase is about knowing the self interest, and the

specific field of study that each student wants to make a research in, this phase started

with an internal interrogation about certain module, topic and or a specified title that

the student felt curious about during his or her career, another important step under

this phase is to gather knowledge, it requires a deep reading process in all authentic

sites, websites, libraries, books… in order to get enough information about the subject

and relate it to the prior knowledge that the student thought before, after that the

student should determine the aim behind his research and put it as a big title to realize

by the end of the research.

The second phase is about the mastery of the dissertation’s process, the researcher

should be aware about the outline of the dissertation, moving from writing the
 8

proposal, and collecting the literatures to the application part which is about analyzing

the collected data and discussing the results (Childers Hon, 2007, p.3).

In other words, the dissertation is a type of academic writing, it requires certain

norms and guidelines that govern the writing process like: formality which a crucial

element in this type, unlike the other types like personal and creative ones, in which

they neglect this factor, and on the other side, they are based essentially on the

freedom of writing ie: the writer is free from any conditions and he is allowed to use

whatever terms and jargons to express his ideas.

Another important element in this type of writing is the mastery of the

dissertation’s process, the figure below will illustrate that as follows:

 9

Figur.1.2. Thesis Outline (Thesis Helpers)

Each researcher should be aware about the steps or norms that govern the writing

process, as shown in the image above, each researcher is obliged to go through those

steps shown in the outline and if the latter does not master any of them, his or her

dissertation will lack proficiency and authenticity . The steps follow a specific process

that govern approximately all dissertations, starting from the general introduction that

shows the chosen path of the study, the definitions of certain terminologies, items ,

and definitions, then comes the other step of “gathering the literatures”, in which the
 10

researcher provides a detailed overview on the previous works and scholars views

about the chosen subject of the study and also the “thesis problem” ie: the raison

behind conducting that research , after that comes the step the “method”, where the

researcher should determines the chosen method, sample and design that would

govern the study. The two last steps, illustrate the findings of the gathered results in

addition to the summary of the whole study that should be in the step of the

“conclusion”. So, outlining the dissertation is a very essential part, it plays an

important role under the norms that govern the writing of the dissertation so that the

researcher organize himself and be aware about the different stages of the dissertation

to complete his work in a good manner, otherwise the researcher will lose control

over the work.

1.3 Research in the EFL Context

According to Arteaga(2008) a research by its nature is a “systematic, reflective,

and critical” process, its main objective is to deduce new information, and this is why

conducting a research in the EFL context should result in originality and

inventiveness. This kind of research permits the researcher to critically examine the

existed theories, propagates new ones and this of course leads to the creation of new

knowledge in the EFL field (p.3)

In other words, conducting a research in the EFL context enables the researcher

to prove the effectiveness of certain theories, make scientific critics and begets a

totally modern or modified theories and assumptions. All of this of course is for the

sake of experiencing abstract theories and knowledge in the real life.

1.4 Theoretical Background

 11

Tolchinsky argued in the edited book of Macarthur and Fitzgerald (2006) that The

word writing is a debatable issue in itself; some argue that writing refers to the act of

making abstract ideas clear and seen in the real life via the use of alphabetical system,

others relate it to the production of the different written material existed in the world

and the different text types, or it can simply manifest a simple act of mastering the

skill in itself. He divides writing into three major categories.

The first is about seeing it as a “notational system” in which the writer has the

ability to transform the cognitive ideas into real ones and express them freely, the

second is about seeing it “as a mode of production”, this category believes that when

we say writing the first thing that come in mind is the several text types founded in

libraries like books, novel, magazines… so they relate it to the writing pieces not

writing as an act, then comes the third category which is about seeing it as “a

discourse style or more precisely as a collection of discourse styles or genres” , this

type stress the mastery of different rules and bases of the writing skill like the use of

the correct vocabulary… (Tolchinsky, 2006,p.83)

Tansay and Nashruddin (2020) argued in their article that writing is not innate

rather it is acquired and based essentially on repetition and practice, the writing

process also should follow a good structure in which the writer should master the

writing rules and strategies in order to produce an intact piece, Belhabeb (2015) as

cited in the same article, added that the writing skill should be the last skill acquired

by the native or the EFL student since it gathers all the other skill. In other words, she

argues that the acquisition of reading, speaking and listing skills should be done

before learning how to write, since the last require a skilled person ie: the writer

should be in the place of a good listener, a good speaker and a good reader too.
 12

Rao (2019) as cited in Tansay and Nashruddin(2020), added that writing is not an

easy task to do especially when it comes to the academic writing because this type

specifically requires a sort of formal standards and requirements, for example in

writing a dissertation, the researcher should follow a formal process that guides this

latter , and it can be published and seen by other people all around the world, this is

why it requires formality (p.104)

So, writing is the most difficult skill among the other three skills, a writer should

master the norms and the guidelines that govern the writing process since he/she as an

academic writer, and is responsible for producing a perfect piece of writing, or rather

a formal piece.

1.4.1 Writing Theories

1.4.2 Cognitive Science and Linguistic Theory

It consists of a binomial combination between two different schools of thought,

and this issue has been always controversial. Scholars see according to Alfaki (2015)

that both schools share a common experimental foundation for research, or in other

words, both schools emerged approximately at the same period of time so for sure

they share some common beliefs or strategies.

Yao (1997) argue that the cognitive theory of composition is founded to

understand the internal mental activities that each writer feels while writing, and

which consists of “Planning, translating or drafting and revising” (p.185)

It is emerged in early times and based essentially on psychology and cognitive

science. It gathers both cognitive theory of development and developmental

psychology and relates their beliefs to writing compositions. (Alfaki, 2015)

 13

More precisely, the cognitive theory of composition emerged from different

contributions of Levvygotsky and Piaget, and this is what made it cognitive since in

base, it comes from the cognitive developmental theory and psychological

perspectives.

On the other side, linguistic theories of composition shed light on a specific item

which is “grammar”, it focus on providing students writers with the guidelines that

help them produce a specific composition, however, most of those instructions were

limited at a sentence and a paragraph-level. Applied linguists also tried their best to

add some real pedagogical instructions to the field. (alfaki, 2015 p42-43)

ie: linguists focus essentially on the different grammatical issues related to writing,

and applied linguistics tried to set up rules and pedagogies needed by the student for

the writing process as well as the evaluation of writing, but the pedagogical side still

lack norms this is why a need for another theory was vital at that time.

1.4.3 Social Constructionist Theory

This theory stresses the idea that knowledge is build essentially from “group

discourse”, in which individuals build their identity from shared ideas and

assumptions, however, the only responsible for identifying personal identity and

uniqueness is language. (Alfaki, 2015)

In other words, the social constructionist theory shed light on the idea that all

individuals share the same beliefs and attitudes since they are under one community

or a group, but the use of language enables them to identify themselves freely and in

this way they are no longer common, rather, each one of them is unique since they do
 14

not express themselves in the same manner, ie: each one manifest himself differently

via the use of language.

Alfaki(2015) added that social constructionist theory has a relation with

Poststructuralist theory and that “writer, reader and text are socially constructed

entities, constituted by vast interpretative frameworks”

Ie: the meaning of a word has no relation with the word itself, it is just socially

constructed, since there is no existence for concrete evidence, this is why there is no

relation between the signifier and the signified, it is just build on community’s

assumptions and beliefs.

As discussed before, writing is not easy as the other skills, it requires different

rules that would govern the writing process, especially when it comes to teaching

writing, and teachers will find themselves in front of diverse approaches that at least

are founded to facilitate their works. Raimes (1983) claims that writing acquisition is

not just limited to one method or approach, rather as Harmer adds that approaches

range from “Process approach, Product approach, genre approach and the creative

writing” this is why it is controversial for teachers on choosing the suitable approach,

however, they are obliged to choose just one of them, or mix between the four of

them, because as Raimes(1983) argues that the representation of a common ground

between the four approaches allowed this mixture.( Raimes as cited in Esra

Çil,2014,p.3)

1.5 Approaches to Writing

All the approaches cited above share common beliefs and assumption and they

are mainly emerged at same time, this is why teachers of writing have the authority on
 15

choosing one approach or mixing between two or more approaches, the approaches

will be discussed in details below:

1.5.1 The Product Approach

Nunan (1989) as cited in Alfaki argued that the approach’s main concern is the

final product, in which the writing teacher would focus on correctness of the final

composition being an essay, a paragraph or whatever, the main important issue is not

the process that writing went through, rather, whether the produced piece is clear from

grammatical mistakes, respects writing methodology and fulfils the intended needs or

not. Byrne(1988) added that this approach consists of an “accuracy oriented

approach” which mainly stresses the idea of the teacher should focuses on the

produced faults and make his best to get read of them. Hedge(1988) on the other side,

provided some instruction that help the writer in producing a clear composition, he

stressed the importance of using an intact grammar, and a rich vocabulary, following

the right writing process, a correct punctuation and linking sentence in a logical

manner.(cited in Alfaki, 2015)

So, this approach focuses mainly on the final production, scholars arguethat the

main objective behind it is to produce a composition clear from grammatical

mistakes, the formed sentences are logically connected of course with respect to the

writing norms, however, it does not spot the writing process, this is why the main

important thing is what the writer has produce is correct, not what writer went through

to produce the given composition.

As a result another approach has emerged to highlight the writing process called

the process Approach

 16

1.5.2 The Process Approach

Unlike to the previous approach, this approach comes to highlight the importance

of a good writing process. Hedge (1988) also reports that, brilliant writers always

went through a specific process which renders their writings more sufficient. Teachers

who adopt this approach tend to insist on their students, to put themselves in the place

of the readers and highlight a specific aim behind their writing compositions. She

adds that in this approach, writers should adopt a cognitive theory and master its

guidelines (Hedge as cited in Alfaki 2015, P.44).

In other words, this approach stresses the importance of adopting a good writing

process since the aim behind it is not to produce a correct composition, rather, to shed

light on the different cognitive stages that the writer went through during writing, of

course in this way, they would adopt a cognitive theory as discussed before which

require a deep thinking process before writing and an organized strategy while writing

(which consists of drafting reviewing and revising).

1.5.3 Genre Approach

EsraÇil(2014) argued that this type of approach is based essentially on the

extensive analysis of texts from different genres, where students are asked to analyze

several texts related to a specific genre before producing their own compositions.

In other words, the activities of this theory ask students to analyze different texts that

belong to one specific genre from their own choice, and then they would be able to

produce and write their own texts.

 17

Harmer (2001) as cited inÇil (2014) adds that the main important elements of

interest are “topic, style, the context and the reader”, so they act as crucial elements

that student must take into consideration in the time of writing.

Halliday (1989) is the founder of this approach during the time of( 1978-1994),

where he adopts a “genre-based approach” which is composed of three main

important stages being:

a- Outlining the writing composition

b- Connected construction of a text

c- Free construction of a text (cited in Çil, 2014,P.4).

So, the Genre approach from its name, requires a practical analysis of a text under

a specific genre, this will enable student to master the norms of the chosen genre, and

helps to easily write compositions related to the practiced genre. The student should

fulfill the mastery of chosen topic, the nature of the style that would be adopted to

writer’s and reader’s interests.

1.6Different Writing Problems

Similarly to learning problems, the writing problems too preoccupied a huge part

of student’s productions.

Heaton (1975) argued that the writing skill is not easy to acquire, and is also

difficult to be taught. Being skilled in writing does not stand only upon the different

grammatical and vocabulary issues; rather, it is also about cognitive and critical

issues. Students believe that the act of writing is just about expressing their ideas

about a given subject, but, the important thing is that, if they lack one of writing
 18

elements, their composition pieces will therefore lack proficiency and accuracy.(

Cited in pratiwi, 2012,p.5).

Writing as mentioned before is difficult, this is why students find themselves in

front of several problems; scholars tend to divide those problems into three main

categories stated by Bryne (1988). The first is about “Linguistic difficulty”, it

comprises grammatical and vocabulary difficulties, week selection of appropriate

words and sentences… The second is about “psychology difficulty”, it is related with

writer’s psychological problems, since he or she cannot know about reader’s

impression about the work and think a lot about the reader’s reaction and assessment

about the work, all of this happens during the writing time as a consequence this

would affect the writing process. Third, “cognitive difficulty” in which writing should

be acquired via academic instructions, for example: the use of capital letters,

capitalization.(Cited in Pratiwi ,2012).

Gomaa (2010) argues that in EFL learning, there are four main important

elements, based on her experience while teaching writing. The first one is mainly

about difficulties at the level of a sentence, in which students get confused between

the English structure and Arabic one, as a result, they write long sentences and

paragraphs without a single punctuation, she also identifies this problem as “Running

on a sentence” another problem similar to this one, is the “punctuation” problem

where most of students get confused about putting the correct punctuation marks. The

third, is a cognitive problem, where students think in Arabic and write in English,

they adopt a translating strategy from Arabic into English language, in this way, they

ended up having fragmented sentences that are correct in structure but wrong in sense;

this problem is identifies as “Arabish”. The Last, is about the “writing organization”,

students facing this issue, lack the mastery of composition structure or organization,
 19

they do not know really what an introduction, body or a conclusion should

provide.(cited in Bakeer, 2018.p.255)

So, Gomaa(2010) introduced a sort of causes that may harm the writing process,

she focused on L1 interference which is Arabic in the EFL context, where student are

strongly influenced by their first language writing and they do not differentiate it from

the writing’s norms in the English langue, as a result their pieces of composition will

lack fluency, organization and being hard to understand by the reader.

1.7Researcher’s Difficulties in Dissertation Writing

Becoming a researcher is not an easy task, and writing in academia is

challenging too, so when those two terms are combined together a sense of difficulty

will occur. This section will elaborate the different difficulties and obstacles faced by

researchers during the writing process of the dissertation or the master thesis.

Zaid(2016) argues that linguistic problems acts as real problems encountered by

the researcher while writing the thesis, he highlights that most students experience a

sort of English grammar problems, those latter range from being the inability of using

correct verb tense and the correct models, “parallelism, concord, gerund, to

infinitive, and participle”(p.23) .

Biggam (2008) as cited in Ghouar’s (2019) article clarifies that, the researcher is

not only facing grammatical problems and which consists of real and visible ones;

rather he or she is front of abstract problems , those abstract problems consist primary

on the inability to master dissertation’s structure and to manage it in the needed time.

Biggam(2008) argued that most researchers are aware about the outline or the

structure of the dissertation, but in real life they do not know the exact way of writing
 20

dissertation’s elements(p.532) ie: the researchers are fully aware about the outline of

the dissertation, but they lack practice or application of the elements of the

dissertation, for example they do not know how to make a literature review, a

questionnaire.

Tiwari(2019) concluded via his investigation that challenges encountered by the

researcher during the writing process of the dissertation can be grouped into five

major challenges.

First, is the “supervisor related challenges”, at this level, researchers were exposed

to severe problems with their supervisors, some of them argue about the rude and

mistreatment of the supervisors in which there is no clear and safe communication

between both parts.

Second, is the “Resource related challenges” this part is about the lack of sources

in the library, most researchers complains that they do not found the suitable books

related to their topics they also argue that they spend much time looking for books

that are not available and this of course waste their time, another important issue

related to this problems is that most student do not get access to the internet especially

for those who stay at the campus and as Ibrahim and Alsied(2017) argue about the

fact of unavailability of the internet, computers and other technological tools,

especially when the topic necessitates lot of sources(p.148).

The third one is about “Topic related challenges” it is about the topic selection

since originality of the topic is vital is the master dissertation, the researcher therefore,

complain about choosing a suitable topic, that can be original, new, and fulfills at the

other hand student’s and supervisor’s interests. Another issue highlighted by most
 21

researcher is when some supervisors force them to work on a topic which do not

enthrall them as a result the work would not be at the level of supervisor’s.

Fourth, “Time and money related challenges” in which researchers face problems

related to time, since they are learning at the same time and this takes a lot of their

time, so they do not find sufficient time to read different sources, money on the other

side, acts as a big obstacle especially to those poor families, so they cannot pay fees

related to thesis like “printing, photocopying”

Last, “Research Methodology challenges” Researchers at this level, feel the

difficulty of mastering the appropriate methodology of writing dissertation, some of

them argue that this is related to their absences in classroom and other relate it to the

lack of practice in the classroom, in other words, some researchers are not fully aware

about dissertation’s outline and process and this is due to the lake of mastery of

methodology as a result this would slow their path and they find themselves turning

around in one place ie: they cannot go further (p.49-51).

To sum up, writing a dissertation is not easy like any academic type of writing,

researcher face many problems and obstacles that hamper the writing process,

problems range from being abstract problems like the mastery of the dissertation’s

process to real and concrete ones like problem of money, time constraints, topic

selection. The supervisor related problems.

So, the researcher should be aware about those problems to overcome them, on

that basis, a sort of solutions were proposed by different scholars.

 22

.1.8 Proposed Solutions for the Writing Problems

GhouarNesrine(2019) in her article, suggests some pedagogical implications that

may help both the researcher and the teacher, she argues that teachers can help master

researcher to overcome the already cited challenges via several steps.

First, teachers can insist on the intensification of the practice on academic writing,

more precisely how to apply to write a research, they should make samples of

research before writing the master thesis, in this way they will at least have an

experience in writing a research.

Second, she insisted on the cooperative work between both teacher of the written

expression and the teacher of methodology, in which the first one will focus on

linguistic and grammatical basis in the writing process and the second one will

highlights methodological rules that govern the process of writing.

The last step concerns the supervisor’s role, where he/she should encourage,

correct and help the supervisee; he/she should also create a sort of clear

communication during the whole period of writing the dissertation.

The researcher on the other hand, should feel free to choose the field work that

suits the personal interest, because it would be impossible to work on an imposed

topic otherwise he or she cannot finish the work, or the work cannot be in the right

path of perfection. Another important issue is the amelioration of the reading skill on

one side since this is vital in the writing of the dissertation, and by doing this the

researcher can be able to select the correct and authentic sources needed in the writing

process; and at the other side, the writing skill should be given the same importance,
 23

in which the researcher should overcome the common writing errors of course via the

intensive practice.

Researcher also should organize him/herself at the level of time management,

planning and meeting with supervisor and partners of the works if it was the case

(Ghouar, 2019, p.539-541).

Zaid(2016) pinpoints also that the teacher or rather the supervisor is asked to

correct those mistakes and provides the right assessment, by adopting certain method

which consists primary on correcting researcher’s first and second draft not directly

the original work, in which the supervisor should provide a positive feedback for the

student to encourage him or her (p.25).

So, it is obvious that the writing of dissertation is not simple, researcher face

different obstacles, as a consequence, a sort of solutions were provided to facilitate

this latter, in which both researcher and supervisor should show cooperative

collaboration. Supervisors on one hand should provide a sense of support for the

supervisees, they should encourage them, assess their work repetitively and provide

positive feedback to facilitate the work, and the most important issue is to show

commitment at the level of topic choice, this would at least create a good working

atmosphere. Researchers on the other side, should be aware about the importance of

this kind of research, they should be so organized and structured in their way of

working, they should also master the norms of writing a dissertation and practice

several times before writing their original work, they also should show a good

understanding between them and their partners and supervisors.

 24

Conclusion

This chapter dealt with different aspects, guidelines, norms that concern the

dissertation, it elaborates the writing skill in general at one side, and the writing of the

dissertation as one example of academic writing, where each researcher can face

different obstacles while doing so, this is why a sort of common problems were

highlighted at one level, and on the other side, different scholars tend to sympathize

them and provide a sort of solutions that may help those researchers.
 25

Chapter Two: The Field Work

Introduction

The second chapter of this study elaborates the case of Algerian master two

students of Guelma, it aims at investigating the different difficulties that they have

faced during the writing process of their dissertations, So this chapter is devoted to the

analysis and interpretation of the data collected from the questionnaire.

2.1 Population and Sampling

For the present study, we deal with a sample of twenty (20) students, from a total

population of the master students about (120) English students of the department of

languages, University of Guelma. In this study, the learner’s sample is recruited from

one class at Guelma University. The sample ranged between males and females, being

selected randomly.

The reason behind choosing to work with master two students is linked to fact that

those students as researchers are accurately facing problems and difficulties while

writing their dissertations, so they can be a vivid example and they know better this

issue, ie since they are master two students and they should write their dissertations to

graduate, hence, for sure they experience some difficulties that hamper the writing

process, unlike students from the other university years, they cannot serve as good

examples because they do even know how to write a dissertation.

2.2 Description of the Research Tools:

This research will investigate the different difficulties using two sorts of research

tools, being the questionnaire and the researcher’s diary.

 26

2.3Students’ Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a tool that enables the researcher of collecting numerical

statistics about a given fact. It aims primary at proving the reliability of the research

via the analysis of the answered questions (Rani&Roopa, 2012, P.273).

So, this data-gathering tool which is designed to extract authenticable information

is used in this study to collect the different facts and opinions about the different

problems and difficulties faced by the master two researchers while writing their final

dissertation.

2.4 Administration of the Questionnaire:

The students’ questionnaire was administered to one group of students that make

up our whole sample (N20), after their acceptance, students were given full

instruction before the completion of the questionnaire, on how to complete the

questionnaire and for which purpose it was designed. Instructions were as follows:

 The completion of the questionnaire is an essential part of this research.

 Their participation is very appreciated and acknowledged.

 There were no right or wrong answers; it is only a matter of giving opinions.

 It would not be marked

 Results would come with a great importance for this research.

 The questionnaire would be anonymous.

 The questionnaire was online

2.5 Description of the Questionnaire

 27

This questionnaire contains 23 items grouped into three main important sections.

The questions range from being closed-ended question like multiple choice answers,

Yes/No questions, and open-ended ones.

Section one: Personal Information (Q1-Q4)

This section is devoted to the background information about the students and it

contains four (4) main questions. Its main aim is to gather information about student’s

gender, how long they have been studying English, whether it was their first choice or

not and if studying English was easy or difficult.

Section two: Research and Writing Problems (Q5-Q12)

In this section, questions range from the open questions, to the multiple choice

ones, where the fifth (Q5) and sixth (Q6) questions are open questions, (Q5) tends to

ask students to give full definitions for what is a research, and(Q6) is about giving the

intended aim behind conducting a research. Then, students in (Q7) are asked to give

their opinion about the dissertation writing, they are supposed to choose whether

writing a dissertation is easy, very easy, difficult or very difficult. After that, question

(Q8) tends to ask about research’s process, in which students are given four research

steps and they are supposed to rank them from one to four, the next question also is a

multiple choice one, it asks about the degree of accuracy of the writing problems in

which students are given three main important writing problems and they are

supposed to say which one is the most accurate, accurate and least accurate. Question

(10) is an open one, where students are asked to give full definition of the dissertation,

following in (Q11), they are supposed to order the norms and guidelines that govern

the writing process of the dissertation from one to four. Additionally, question (Q12)
 28

also asks them to choose what is the most appropriate criteria of a good research, they

have the right only to choose one of them.

Section Three: Dissertation’s Writing Difficulties (Q13-Q23)

The first three questions (Q13,Q14, and Q15) have the same structure in which,

students are given multiple choice questions about steps and processes of the

dissertation, and they are supposed to answer if they have faced problems in the

writing process of the dissertation, the design of the questionnaire, interview or

experiment, and their analysis, however, the answers are done by making a tick in

front of each case of Yes/No. The following question came in a form of a table that

contains six questions (from16 Till 21), questions came in a sort of problems and

difficulties that each student can face while writing the dissertation, students are

supposed to state to which extent they agree, disagree, or being neutral about those

difficulties stated in the table, this question highlights six main important problems

being problems with supervisor, time management, grammar rules, resource and topic

related problems, or completely the lack of the mastery of dissertation’s process. After

that, (Q22) and (Q23) were open ones, in which students are supposed to give

solutions for the already cited problems and also to give further comments or

suggestions about this topic.

2.6 Analysis of the Results

This section deals with a detailed analysis of the results that belong to the previous

mentioned questions.

Section one: Personal Information

Q1: Are you a

 29

A-male

B-female

Table1: Gender’sPercentage

Options Percentage%

Male 16,7%

Female 83,3%

In response to the first question, the majority of the participants are females with a

percentage of 83%, however, the percentage from the male gender is only 16%, this

indicates that the majority of students in this class are females.

Q2: How long have you been studying English?

Table2: Student’s years of Studying English

Options Percentage%

12years 92,3%

13years 7,7%

The second question shows that approximately all students have the same level and

years of education which consists of 12 years, except for two students who say that

they have been studying English for 13 years, may be they are blocking or repeating

one year.

Q3: Is English was your first choice?

Yes
 30

NO

Table3: Student’s English Choice

Options Percentage%

Yes 76,9%

No 23,1%

As shown in table above, the majority of students say that English is their first

choice, while the minority of 3 students with a percentage of 23,1% claim that English

is not their first choice. This implies that most of them like English and they are

motivated to learn it.

Q4: What do you think about studying English?

A-easy

B-difficult

Graphic 1: English Difficulty

 31

So, as shown in the graphic, the answer to this question shows approximately the

same percentage, 46, 2% students see that studying English is difficult while 53, 8%

believe that studying English is easy. This indicates that the majority of students see

that studying English is difficult so they are not satisfied about their level in learning

English; this also shows that learning English is not an easy task and this for sure

would create a sense of difficulty in the learning process.

Section Two: Research and Writing problems

Q5: In your opinion, how can we define a research?

In response to this question, all students gave good and full definitions.

Eleven (11) students gave short definitions like “Is a process of getting new

information”, “the process of investigating new area of study”, “An information

gathering process”, “it is an academic process that enables the researcher of gathering

new information”, whereas, the rest of students write long definitions like:

“it is the act of gathering authentical information about a given subject following

academic rules and process”, “research is defined as the creation of new knowledge

and or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new

concepts”, “it is a method that is systematic, a way where we look for new

information, investigating and discovering new knowledge as well as finding answers

to such questions”.

So, the answers indicates students’ awareness on what a research can be, some of

them highlight that it should follow certain academic process and as a global

conclusion, the answers shows a very good understanding of what they are actually

learning and applying( since they are writing their master dissertation)
 32

Q6: What is the aim behind conducting research for master two students?

Only thirteen (13) students responded to this question, answers range from very

short ones to acceptable answers like:

“to solve problems”, “to graduate”, “Graduation”, “Getting new information”, “prove

a hypothesis or not”, “to enrich academia with multiple topics”, and other full

statements like: “it is the experience that enables us to set our already learned

methodologies into application”, “to be able to read critically, investigate new areas of

study, identify problems and study them”.

So as a result, students are at least aware about the objective behind conducting

their research, most of them relate it to graduation since it is their main aim this year,

other believe that the research is the only possibility to prove the acquired knowledge

into application and this what actually they are doing at this period because research is

the only way to prove someone’s capabilities.

Q7: What do you thing about dissertation writing?

A- Easy

B- Very easy

C- Difficult

D- Very difficult

Table4: Dissertation’s Easiness and Difficulty

Options Percentage%

Easy 0%
 33

Veryeasy 0%

Difficult 84,6%

Verydifficult 15,4%

Students go only for two options which are difficult, and very difficult, no one

agrees that the dissertation’s writing is easy or very easy, this at one level shows that

all students believe that the writing of the dissertation is very serious act, and at the

other level, results prove that the majority do face problems otherwise they would

state that this fact is either easy or very easy. So, this for sure will give them push up

to state the different difficulties and problems faced while writing their dissertation in

the followed questions.

Q8: Each kind of research should follow specific process that facilitates the work, the

latter is ordered into different steps. Try to rank these research steps from one to five.

1. Setting research questions, aims, and hypothesis.

2. Identifying the problem

3. Choosing the research tool, and deciding on its sample

4. Reviewing the literature

5. Analyzing the collected data

 34

Graphic2: Process of the Research

Results show that the 65%of the students have chosen “the identification of the

problem” as a first step and this is the most accurate or the right answer, and 75%

agree that the analysis of the collected data comes as the last step, but as we see that

there little opposition at the level of “setting research question and hypothesis” and

“Reviewing the literature “to be the second step, in which 65%say that setting

research, question and hypothesis is the second step, and only 30% said that

reviewing the literature is the second one, and this is normal because each one work

in a manner that suits his or her interests, reviewing the literature then setting the

questions and aims of the research is not as important in order as identifying the

problem of the research.

So, as a result, each one of the students is working in a manner that facilitates the

work, this is why the answers are not the same, some of them prefer to follow the

steps as in the formal process, while others prefer to broke the rule and create their

own atmosphere of working that suits their interests.

 35

Q9: During the writing process, writers may face different problems, these are some

of them:

1. Writer’s cognitive problems

2. Writer’s psychological problems

3. Writer’s personal problems

Graphic 3: Problems Accuracy in the Writing Process.

As shown in the results, the linguistic problems are the most accurate problems

faced by those researchers with a percentage of 61,5%, they do face linguistic

problems like grammar problems and verb tense, the cognitive problems also take an

essential part, approximately 35% all of them agree that they are accurate in the

writing process and no one believe that they can be the least accurate, however, only

13,5% believe that psychological problems are accurate and affect the writing

process.

As a result, the linguistic problems like problems with the grammar and verb

tenses and the cognitive problems as the fear from a bad time management, act as

student’s main obstacles in the writing process, unlike the psychological problems as
 36

the personal problems which do not actually hamper the writing process. This may

prove that student’s main concern is to complete their dissertation and ensure that is

free from grammar mistakes, they do not really concentrate on personal problems,

may be because they are convinced that they have a serious work this is why they

only concentrate on it and neglect the other problems.

Q10. Dissertation is one kind of academic writing, since you have experienced it, can

you provide a simplified definition of it?

All students gave full definition and even very long ones like:

“it is an investigation that the student is passionate about and tries to prove using a

given method. It must good writing style and impressive ideas”, “Dissertation is an

academic form of writing where the students identify a problem, setting hypothesis,

review what have already said about the problem, collecting data then analyze it, at

the end confirm or reject the hypothesis”, “It is a form of writing which comes with

results and solutions of the faced problems that allow as to make this research. It can

not only rely on an experiment it may provide us with information on other fields

such as literature and civilization. It contains many chapters each one treat a

particular title which has a relation with the general title of the dissertation with one

which contains the results of the research concerning”.

Hence, the majority of the students do master what a dissertation is consisting

of, but they do not respect the needed length ordered in the question, some of them

even gathered answers from the previous questions like the writing process, so this

may be due to their mastery about this topic since they are in application, or it returns

to the focus on the dissertation during the first semester of study.

 37

Q11: Order the following norms and guidelines that govern the writing process of the

dissertation from 1 to 4.

1. A deep reading process in all authentic sources

2. Outlining the dissertation

3. Getting started

4. Choosing the aim of the research

Graphic 4: Norms and Guidelines of the Dissertation.

Moving to the norms and guideline that govern the dissertation, approximately

75% believe that “a deep reading process in all authentic sources” comes first and

before even “getting started”, however the second one is the most accurate because

the researcher should convince him/herself that he/she is in front of a serious project

then comes the in-depth reading in reliable sources. Mainly, 35% agree that “outlining

the dissertation” comes as the third step and this is actually right. Then comes “setting

the aim of the dissertation”, with 60% claiming that it should be the last step. Hence,

it is not necessary for all of them to follow the same steps since each one of them has
 38

his/her own method where they find themselves comfortable while writing the

dissertation

As a result, not all students stick to the same norms of writing dissertation,

however, this would affect their final product, for someone who sees that the in-depth

reading comes before getting started and convincing the self that this is a serious

activity and he or she must get started, by the time, may be there would be hesitation

and stress because it does not started on a good base and correct norms.

Q12: What are the main important criteria of a good research?

Table5: Criterion of the Good Research.

Options Percentage%

Originality and inventiveness 46,2%

Proving the effectiveness of the existed 13,8%

theories

Propagating new theories 36%

Making good critics 4%

As shown in the table above, the higher rank goes for “Originality and inventiveness”

with 46,2%, then comes “propagating new theories” with a percentage of 36%, then

student chose to prove the existed theories with 13,8%, and to make good critics

came with the least percentage of 4%.

Those results indicated that the students’ main concern is to find a topic that is

original and new and this is actually what most of the teachers insist on in the English

department of Guelma, they do not prefer old and repetitive topics this is why the
 39

majority chose this option. And concerning the least percentage, it may be due to the

fear from subjectivity since the writing process of the dissertation should raise

objectivity.

Section Three: Dissertation’s Writing Difficulties

Q13: While doing your research, have you faced problems in:

a- Setting research Q/aims/hypothesis

Yes 92,3%

No 15,4%

b- Identifying the problem

Yes 53,8%

No 46,2%

c- Choosing the research tool and deciding on its sample

Yes 53,8%

No46,2%

d- Reviewing the Literature

Yes 61,5%

No 38,5%

So, this questions asks mainly whether the students do face problems concerning

the process of the dissertation, the higher rate with 92,3% goes for setting the research

question/ aim /hypothesis, and to the review of literature with 61,5%, while the other
 40

options have the same rate of 53,8% for the Yes option, and 46,2% for the No option.

This may be due to the difficult structure that those two higher rate options have, and

which is also student’s main decision, contrary to the identification of the problem

and the decision on which research tool they can use, which actually resulted from a

discussion with the supervisor.

Q14:While doing your research, have you faced problems in the design of:

a- Questionnaire

Yes 53,8%

No 46,2%

b- Interview

Yes 23,1%

No 76,9%

c- Experiment

Yes 46,2%

No 53,8%

Thus, as shown above the majority of the students do face problems with the

design of the questionnaire with a rate of 53,8% contrary to the interview with only

23,1% to the option Yes, so it is actually rare in use as a research tool especially in

this pandemic years , because most of the students prefer to use questionnaire since

they give them observable statistics.

Q15: While doing your research, have you faced problems with the analysis of:
 41

a- Questionnaire

Yes 38,5%

No 61,5%

b- Interview

Yes 23,1%

No 76,9%

c- Experiment

Yes 38,5%

No 61,5%

Results show that the analysis of the research tools also acts as a serious difficulty

since this latter is very important in the reliability of the research, as said previously

the interview have the lowest rate at the level of NO with 76,9% because it is not used

by all students, rather they prefer the other research tools and this is what shapes their

difficulty.

The following question asks students to state to which degree they agree or

disagree with each difficulty in the table, it contains question from 16 till 22:
 42

Graphic 5: Problems and Difficulties of Dissertation’s writing

The last section is about the main important element of the research, and which is

about the different difficulties encountered by the researcher while writing

dissertation, The higher rank went to the agreement on the problems with time

management with 38%, then comes agreement on resource related problems with

26%, then the lack of the master of dissertation’s process with 15%, topic related

problems with11% , then last the grammar rules problems with 10%.

Also, most of them disagree upon the topic related problems, and the majority

stayed neutral concerning the problems with the supervisor. As a result, not all of the

researchers face the same problems this is why the results differs from one difficulty

to the other, so this indicates that each student classify the difficulties according to his

or her level and experience since they do not share same knowledge.

Q22: What are the solutions for the already stated problems?

Half of the students only provided some solutions in a form of long and short

statements as follows:
 43

“Good time management, get help from multiple teachers, do not engage in topics

that display lack of sources and originality”.

“Try to manage the time, to find a ways to have a extent contact, with the

supervisor, for resources search using different methodologies no ways, choose the

topic according to interest”

“The better solotion is to have an experienced supervisor who is can take full of

the responsibility students should have solid background about different steps of

dissertation that can be done in previous years”.

Other students also provide very short expressions like:

“Reading and reading”

“good time management”

“Recited them”.

So, the quotes show that not all students have an idea about the solutions of the

already discussed difficulties, may be this is due to the time of questionnaire’s

distribution, because this questionnaire was distributed at the same time where those

students were writing their dissertation, this is why they are not fully aware about the

solutions for the obstacles that they found in the writing process of the dissertation, as

a result, few of them only responded on this question, also, certain students do not

prefer to answer for open questions, this also may be a cause.

Q23: Open question for suggestions or comments

Students do not give any further suggestions; they only added motivational

expression of encouragement.
 44

2.7Summary of the Results and Findings from Student’s Questionnaire:

Section One

The first section which about the personal information, shows that students share

the same level of education, there is a mixture between males and females, but the

majority are females, most of them have chosen to study English at the university, this

indicates that they have positive attitude about studying English, this section also

states whether studying English is easy or difficult, and the majority state that it is

difficult, so this for sure would shape as big obstacle for them and would form certain

problems and difficulties, so they would feel free to speak about those difficulties by

answering this questionnaire.

Section Two

The second section which entitles “Research and writing problems”, indicates

that students have a clear vision on what a research can be, and its main aims, they

have provided good and complete statements about these elements. This section also

elaborates their main problems as master students and which consists of dissertation

writing; all of them state that it is either difficult or very difficult. The followed

question indicates what are the raisons behind this difficulty, where each one of them

classifies the steps of the research process according to his her method of working, ie:

they do not share the same order of research steps; this is why they experience a sense

of difficulty. Contrary to the previous question, the (9Q) indicates that all students

agree on the fact that cognitive and linguistic problems are the most accurate one

during the writing process, while psychological problems do not really affect them.

Moreover, the three last questions concentrate on the dissertation. Students tend to

give full definitions on this latter, but they have opposed opinions at the level of
 45

dissertation’s norms and guidelines at one side and what characterized a good

research at the other side, Results prove that the majority are working randomly and

to fulfill self interests ie: they do not follow the formal path of dissertation’s writing.

Section Three

The third Section deals with the different problems and difficulties that the master

two researchers can face while writing the dissertation. It stars with Yes or No

questions, the first question is about whether they have faced problems while

designing research questions/aims/hypothesis, and mainly all students responded with

yes. The other question specifies the design of the different research tool, and the

majority answers that the questionnaire is the most difficult research tool at the level

of the design, similarly to the followed question; students also believe that

questionnaire’s analysis is the most difficult one when being compared to other

research tools. Then comes the most important question in this survey and which

specifies students’ main difficulties in the writing process of the dissertation, all of

them relate it to time management and even in the result the majority insisted on a

good time management, so the problem of time was ranked the first and this what

actually lead to the cognitive problems; mainly the stress, in addition to the problem

of resource, and this obviously can be linked to the poor enrichment of Algerian

libraries and specifically the library of Guelma.

 46

Conclusion

From the obtained results of both the questionnaire and researcher’s diary, it is

revealed that all master two researchers do face certain problems while writing their

dissertations, however, the results indicates that most students do not follow the right

process of dissertation, this is why they experience a sort a difficulty in the writing

process. Additionally, problems are not only resulted from student’s wrong behaviors,

and wrong choice. So, researchers should be very serious while writing the master

dissertation and should be aware of those problems in order to overcome them.

 47

General Conclusion

1. Concluding Remarks

The new LMD system urges the master two students to write their final

dissertation in order to graduate; those latter should master the different norms and

guidelines that govern the writing process; otherwise they would be in trouble. This

is why this work was held, in order to investigate the different obstacle that every

researcher go through while writing the dissertation, in addition it sheds lights on

some solutions that would help them or at least show the right path of dissertation

writing.

From the analysis of students’ questionnaire, results show that most students are

suffering from this issue, approximately 90% of them have faced at least five to six

from the mentioned problems, being abstract ones like the cognitive problems as

stress, or visible and clear ones as grammar and methodological problems, moreover,

it is also revealed that not all of them follow the same process that governs the writing

of the dissertation

It is also revealed that, all of them agree on a good time management, they believe

that it is the key to overcome all those problems, and mainly all of them complain

about time constraint, since the writing of the dissertation needs long period of time

and this is not the case in the master two year, where students have a lot of

responsibilities during that year. Stress on the other side, acts as a big obstacle since

all of students are thinking about the time limitation and this as they argue, affects a
 48

lot their writing production. As a solution, some of them relate it to owning a good

and professional supervisor that will shape the right path of the dissertation, others,

also stress the extensive practice on the four skills before starting to write their

dissertation, or simply the mastery of dissertation’s methodology. In other words, it is

clear that all students suffer from some obstacles during the writing process of the

dissertation; however, those difficulties can be overcome through being strict,

following the right methodologies and guidelines, and for sure adopting a good time

management from the beginning of the writing process.

Researcher’s diary, on the other side also proved that, the master researcher faces

different difficulties at different levels. First, it is revealed that students have a lot of

duties and works in one semester so they do not have the needed time for the

preparation of both, proposal and dissertation’s outline. Second, “Covid19” affects a

lot the learning process, in which students cannot have access to meet their supervisor

on one side, and at the other side, they do not know about the exact date of

dissertation’s submission. Last, is the common problem among approximately all

Algerian Universities, and which consist of the lack of resources at the level of the

libraries.

2. Pedagogical Implementations.

This section seeks to suggest some pedagogical instructions for the master two

students in order to help them to overcome the different problems and difficulties

while writing their final dissertation.

In order to overcome all common problems and difficulties which occur during the

writing process of the dissertation, teachers on the first hand should insist on the

intensification of the practice on academic writing, and more precisely the writing of
 49

the research. Teachers also should show cooperative work among them, especially for

those who teach writing and others of methodology, in which students, can learn the

writing norms and guidelines at one side, and put it into practice at the other side.

On the second hand, the supervisors play an important role in showing the right

path for their students. They are supposed to correct the different mistakes founded in

the dissertation at different levels, ie: methodological errors, grammar rule and verb

tense problems, in addition to context related problems. They are also responsible for

creating a sort of clear and correct communication between them and their supervisees

during the whole period of the dissertations’ writing in order to monitor them.

Students also should show interest towards the four skills, especially the writing

and reading skills, since they are supposed to read from authenticable sources, and

write the gathered information in the correct form. Another important element also, is

the strict organization in the work in order to avoid problems with time management.

3. Research Perspectives, Limitations, and Recommendations.

As any research, this research may have different limitations. First, is the lack of

printed data at the level of University’s library, this is why, most of the utilized

material was either from e-books or downloaded files, Second, is the pandemic

disease, in which there is no solution to meet neither the supervisor to discuss certain

issue related to the dissertation, nor the student to give them printed questionnaires

and direct instruction, this is the scope of the study was so limited to one group since

the questionnaire was online and not all of them accept to answer it. As a result, to

achieve better results, it is preferable to recommend the topic for further research,

where it can be done in good circumstances, with additional tools of gathering data

for example an interview with some students or teacher if the situation allows that,
 50

other studies also should be done to highlight other problems and difficulties in other

domains.

REFERENCES

Alfaki,M,I.(2015).University Student’s English Writing Problems:Diagnosis and

[Link] Valley University, North Sudan.

Arteaga,B,J. (2008).Reasearch in an “efl” Context: a proposal of a Research

[Link] de Nariño, Pasto.

Boccar,A. (2009)Difficulties Encountered by the Student Researcher and the Effect

on their Research output. Faculty of College and of Art and Science, la Salle

University-Ozamiz.

Baily,J&Scarrow,S.(2010)GuidelinesForWritingAMaster Thesis for the M.A

[Link] of Human Subjects.

Bakeer,A,M.(2018)Writing Difficulties and New [Link] Journal of

Humanities and Social Science.Vol3,9.

Boubekeur,N(2018)From EFL to ELF: Possibilities and [Link] de

Mostaganem,CahierdeLinguistic et Didactique,N7.

Biggam,J(2015)Succeeding with your Master Dissertation: a Step-by-Step

[Link] University [Link]-Hill Education.

Chandrasekhar,R(2008)How to write a Thesis. Center for Intelligent Information and

Processing System. Australia.

 51

Childers Hon,L(2007-2008)Guidelines for Writing A Thesis or Dissertation.

Çil, E.(2014)The writing Approaches and Process Writing. Faculty of Art and

Humanities, Berlin.

Ghouar,N(2019).Challenges in Writing “Master” [Link] and Human

Science Review, Batna.20,2.

Guessabi,F.(2020).How to Write a [Link] Journal.vol9,2.

Ibrahim,W,N&Alsied,M,S.(2017)ExploringChallenges Encountered by EFL Libyan

learners in Research Teaching and [Link] of Language Learning,3,2.

Kan, J, A. (2008). Research Methodology. APH Publishing Corporation: S B Nangia.

Kumar,V&Haut,B.(2011).[Link]:Perpusaan

Negara.

Mishra,B,S.&Alock,S.(2017).[Link],Educreation

Publishing.

Nashruddin&Tansay,N.(2020)Problems on English [Link] Muslim

Maros.vol3,2.

Oshima,A&Alogue,A.(2007).Introduction to Academic Writing.(3rded). Pearson

Education. INC.

Pratiwi,D,K.( 2011-2012). Students’ Difficulties in Writing English. University of

Bengkulu.

Rivera,V,R.&Rivera,M,M.(2007) .Practical Guide to Thesis and dissertation writing.

Philippines,KathaPublishing,INC.
 52

Roopa,S&Rani,M.S.(2017).Questionnaire Designing for a Survey. The Journal of

Orthodontic Society.46,4 pp.273-277.

Solagha, Z,O.(2013) Writing Difficulties in the Swedish ESL-Classroom.

StockholmsUniversitet.

Tolchinsky,L.(2006).[Link],Charles,S,Graham,J,Fitzgerald.(ed

)Handbook of Writing [Link], the Guilford Press.

Tiwari,H,P(2019). Writing Thesis in English Education: Challenges Faced by

Students. Journal of NELTA Gandaki (JoNG).1, 45-52.

Yao, L,CH.(1997).an Overview of writing Theory and Research: From Cognitive to

Social-Cognitive View. Chung-Hsing University.

Zaid,A.(2016). Dealing with Linguistic Problems Faced by Master’s Students in their

Thesis Writing. Ahmad Dahlan Journal of English Studies (ADJES) 3, 2.

 53

Apprendix

Questionnaire :

This questionnaire is made to investigate the different writing difficulties encountered

by the researcher during the writing process of the dissertation, so please try to answer
the proposed questions. Thank you in advance.

Questionnaire:

Section One: Personal information

1. Are you a

Female

Male

2. How long have you been studying English?

………………………………………………..

3. Is English was your first choice?

………………………………………………..

4. What do you think about studying English?

Easy

Difficult

Section Two: Research and writing problems

5. In your opinion, how can we define a research?

……………………………………………..

6. What is the aim behind conducting research for master two students?

………………………………………………

7. What do you think about dissertation’s writing is

 54

 Very Difficult
 Difficult
 Easy
 Very easy

8. Each kind of research should follow a specific process that facilitates the work, the
latter is ordered into different steps. Try to rank these research steps from 1to 5.

 Setting research questions/aims/hypothesis

 Identifying the Problem
 Choosing the research tool and deciding on its sample
 Reviewing the literature
 Analyzing the Collected data

9. Writing existed in different types and genres, academic writing is one of the most
strict and difficult type. Can you say the raison behind this difficulty?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

10. During the writing process, writers may face different problems. Try to rank those
problems from the most accurate to the least in the table below:

Problems Most accurate accurate Least accurate

Writer’slinguisticproblems
Writer’s Cognitive problems
Writer’spsychologicalproblems

11. Dissertation is one kind of academic writing; since you have experienced it can
you provide a simplified definition of it?

…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………..

12. The dissertation is done under of the supervision of the so called “Supervisor”,
state the importance of the good choice of this latter.

…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………..

13. Order the following norms and guidelines that govern the writing of the
dissertation from 1 to 4.
 55

 A deep reading process in all authentic sources

 Outlining the dissertation
 Getting started
 Choosing the Aim of the research

14. What are the main important criteria of a good research?

1. Originality and inventiveness.

2. Proving the effectiveness of the existed theories.
3. Propagating new theories.
4. Making good critics.
5. All of them.

Section three: Dissertation’swritingdifficulties

15. During the writing process of the dissertation, researchers find different
difficulties that may transform into huge obstacles and hamper the writing process,
state to which extent you agree with each difficulty in the table.

Difficulties Agree Neutral Disagree

[Link] rule problems

[Link] of the mastery of
dissertation’s process
[Link] with the supervisor
[Link] with time
management
[Link] related problems
[Link] related problems

22. Propose some solutions for the already cited problems.

…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………….

23. If you want to propose any other think about this topic, please do not hesitate.

…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
 ‫‪56‬‬

‫‪Thank You‬‬

‫ملخص‬

‫البحث مصطلح واسع جدًا يمكن أن يشمل عناصر مختلفة مثل األطروحة واألطروحة والمقاالت والتقارير‪ .‬في‬

‫هذه الدراسة ‪ ،‬ينصب التركيز على كتابة األطروحة ‪ ،‬حيث يجب أن تتبع معايير وإرشادات معينة تستند إلى‬

‫استراتيجيات الكتابة الجيدة‪ .‬نتيجة لذلك ‪ ،‬ال يمكن لجميع الطالب إتقان هذا النشاط ‪ ،‬ولهذا السبب سيواجه الغالبية‬

‫مشاكل وصعوبات معينة على مستوى عملية الكتابة‪ .‬في هذا الصدد ‪ ،‬تم اختيار (‪ )20‬طالبي ماجستير في قسم‬

‫اللغة اإلنجليزية بجامعة قالمة بشكل عشوائي كعينة لهذا البحث‪ .‬على هذا األساس ‪ ،‬تم وضع فرضية لتوضيح‬

‫نوع الصعوبات التي يواجهها ماستر طالبين خالل رحلتهم من خالل استخدام االستبيان‪ .‬أظهرت النتائج أن ما‬

‫يقرب من ‪ ٪90‬من الطالب يواجهون مشاكل معينة يحاولون التغلب عليها‪ .‬لذلك تقترح هذه الدراسة بعض‬

‫المضامين التي من شأنها أن تساعد هؤالء الباحثين ‪ ،‬باإلضافة إلى توضيح العملية الصحيحة والمبادئ التوجيهية‬

‫‪.‬التي من شأنها تسهيل العمل‬

 57

Résumé

La recherche est un terme très vaste qui peut inclure divers éléments tels que thèse,

mémoire, articles et rapports. Dans cette étude, l'accent est mis sur la rédaction de la

thèse, où elle doit suivre certaines normes et directives basées sur de bonnes stratégies

de rédaction. De ce fait, tous les élèves ne maîtrisent pas cette activité, et c'est

pourquoi la majorité serait confrontée à certains problèmes et difficultés au niveau du

processus d'écriture. À cet égard, (20) étudiants en master deux EFL du département

d'anglais de l'Université de Guelma ont été choisis au hasard comme échantillon pour

cette recherche. Sur cette base, des hypothèses ont été retenues pour montrer à quel

type de difficultés les étudiants de Master 2 sont confrontés au cours de leur parcours

via l'utilisation du questionnaire. Les résultats ont révélé qu'environ 90% des étudiants

sont confrontés à certains problèmes qu'ils tentent de les surmonter. Par conséquent,

cette étude suggère certaines implications qui aideraient ces chercheurs, en plus de

leur montrer le processus et les lignes directrices corrects qui faciliteraient le travail.