Investigating the Problems of Organization and Vocabulary in Academic Writing Encountered by Students at Postgraduate Level

Abstract

There are several elements that are essential to create a quality piece of writing. Organization and vocabulary are the most important elements of an academic essay that often seems to be overlooked by students. Typically, organization refers to the larger parts of a piece of writing, although it also refers to how paragraphs and sentences are written and how accurately words are put together to convey ideas. An organized essay is clear, focused, logical and effective. The present study aims to investigate vocabulary and organizational issues in English academic writing (AW) faced by Pakistani students. The purpose of this study was to analyze issues students face while writing academically on postgraduate level. A mixed methods approach was applied to this study. A questionnaire survey was designed and conducted on 50 MPhil level students including males and females. The findings reveal that Pakistani students consider AW as an important subject. However, they face a number of issues in their writing such as weak writing expressions, grammatical and syntactical issues and seek to overcome their writing deficiencies. Study also identifies a number of other factors that cause these issues in students’ writing.