Challenges faced by non-native undergraduate student writers in an English-Medium University

This paper examines some of the challenges that seventeen second language (L2) students at an English-medium university in Hong Kong faced in writing academic texts. The data were collected as one part of a wider long-term qualitative study that recorded the experiences of 28 L2 students from various disciplines over their three-year study programme. After presenting an initial overview that highlights some areas of common concern with regard to writing, this paper focuses on perspectives derived from semi-structured interview and learner activity log data that illustrate individual learners' experiences in completing one written assignment in their second year of study. Apart from issues relating to their language competence, participants reported facing two main challenges in writing acceptable undergraduate academic discourse. The first related to their management of the writing process and was highlighted by their general lack of effective planning and poor time management, while the second was text-focused and concerned their handling of inter-textuality and their ability to structure information effectively.English Language Centr