Postgraduate Students’ Writer’s Block in English as an Academic Language: Reasons and Remedies


Zorba M. G., Arıkan A.

in: LSP Teaching: Practices, Innovation, Technology, Elżbieta Dziurewicz,Joanna Woźniak,Paloma López-Zurita,Maria Vázquez Amador, Editor, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart, pp.193-206, 2025

  • Publication Type: Book Chapter / Chapter Research Book
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag
  • City: Stuttgart
  • Page Numbers: pp.193-206
  • Editors: Elżbieta Dziurewicz,Joanna Woźniak,Paloma López-Zurita,Maria Vázquez Amador, Editor
  • Akdeniz University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Academic writing is often considered a complex process in which various factors are at work and affect the quality of the written product. Therefore, producing academic texts is a formidable task for many postgraduate students. Although English as an academic language has been gaining currency in foreign language teaching/learning, writer’s block remains underresearched, particularly at the postgraduate level. This study aims to investigate the extent to which postgraduate students are hampered by writer’s block while writing academic papers in English, what factors pave the way for this problem, and what strategies they use to remedy writer’s block. A mixed-methods research design was employed to seek answers to the research questions, and data were collected sequentially during the spring term of the 2021–2022 academic year. In the first phase, a writer’s block scale was administered to collect quantitative data, and qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews to cross-check quantitative data and gain in-depth insights. Findings revealed that postgraduate students frequently were hampered by writer’s block and used various remedial strategies to cope with this problem.