Ampersand 11 (2023) 100158

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Ampersand
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Academic essay writing in an English medium instruction environment:

Indonesian graduate students’ experiences at Hungarian universities
Dedy Subandowo a, b, *, Csilla Sárdi a
a
Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Szentkirályi u. 28, 1088, Hungary
b
Universitas Muhammadiyah Metro, Jl. Ki Hajar Dewantara No. 116 Iringmulyo Metro Timur, Lampung, Indonesia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Academic writing is a key indicator of academic success in higher education, and high-quality academic text
Academic essay production may pose a great challenge to L2 English students within the framework of English-Medium In­
Academic writing struction (EMI). In Higher Education, one of the genres students are most frequently required to master is the
English as a lingua franca
academic essay. This small-scale qualitative study focuses on Indonesian graduate students’ challenges when
English-medium instruction
Higher education
writing high-stakes academic essays in Hungarian EMI environments. The investigation aims to discover what
Qualitative research challenges this environment poses to Indonesian students, with a specific focus on in-class and out-of-class
support. The participants were four Indonesian graduate students required to write academic essays at Social
Sciences Faculties of Hungarian universities. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed
by applying the technique of qualitative coding. Findings indicate that the extent and quality of support students
receive at institutional and subject course levels has a profound influence on academic essay writing achieve­
ments. A major implication is that offering courses in English academic writing and providing access to e-library,
ensuring subject teachers’ sufficient English proficiency levels and pedagogical skills, clarifying the content and
requirements of essay assignments as soon as possible, and providing guidance and training regarding secondary
research and online writing tools can effectively contribute to the development of students’ English academic
essay writing skills.

1. Introduction need English as a lingua franca to pursue their academic goals and to
communicate with other L2 English speakers of different L1 back­
English is often referred to as the world’s first global lingua franca or grounds. The term ‘English as a lingua franca’ (ELF) is defined, by
world language because of its widespread use in many areas of public Seidlhofer (2011, p. 7), as “any use of English among speakers of
life (Crystal, 2003; Graddol, 2007; Northrup, 2013). Higher Education is different first languages for whom English is the communicative me­
one of these areas, and English is now used in native and non-native dium of choice and often the only option.” For the purposes of this paper,
contexts for teaching, learning, and research purposes in different the above definition of ELF will be used.
fields of study worldwide (Langum and Sullivan, 2017). Dearden (2014) Pursuing academic excellence and strong competition among stu­
defines English-Medium Instruction (EMI) “as the use of the English dents seem to be regular features of EMI environments, with academic
language to teach academic subjects in countries or jurisdictions where writing being a well-established and widely applied means for students
the first language (L1) of the majority of the population is not English” to succeed (Braine, 2002, p. 65; Neill et al., 2019). Since the quality of
(p. 4). This definition indicates that academic contexts in English L1 and academic writing is one of the key indicators of academic progress, the
English-dominant environments are excluded from the category of EMI. importance and effective development of quality in students’ written
Below, this definition of the term will be used. text production has been repeatedly emphasized (Gopee and Deane,
Today, a growing number of universities in the expanding circle (see 2013; Hussain, 2019; Maftoon, 2012; Mallia, 2017).
Kachru, 1985) offer study programmes in English in the three tiers of In Europe, one example of an EMI context where ELF is used as a
higher education in continental Europe and elsewhere (see, e.g., means of communication is Hungarian Higher Education. In this coun­
Björkman, 2011). In such settings, international students predominantly try, the introduction, in 2013, of the Stipendium Hungaricum (SH)

* Corresponding author. Doctoral School of Linguistics, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Hungary.
E-mail addresses: subandowo.dedy@hallgato.ppke.hu (D. Subandowo), sardi.csilla@btk.ppke.hu (C. Sárdi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amper.2023.100158
Received 8 May 2022; Received in revised form 8 October 2023; Accepted 15 November 2023
Available online 27 November 2023
2215-0390/© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
D. Subandowo and C. Sárdi Ampersand 11 (2023) 100158

scholarship program has considerably increased the number of inter­ regarded as EMI,
national students enrolled at Hungarian universities. In the 2022/2023
“The delivery of content, whole-class interaction, the learning materials,
academic year, more than 12 thousand international students from
and the demonstration and assessment of learning outcomes (such as oral
nearly 90 sending partners worldwide participated in 600 academic
presentation, assignments, or tests) should be in English. Other languages
programmes offered by 28 Hungarian universities within the framework
may be used in a principled and limited way in specific circumstances ….
of the SH (Stipendium Hungaricum, 2022).
However, students should be asked to present their discussion outcomes in
A significant number of international students participating in the SH
English, and lecturers should ensure that at least 70% of class commu­
program are from Indonesia. Since the introduction of SH, approxi­
nication takes place in English". (p. 5)
mately 250 Indonesian students have enrolled in Hungarian master and
doctoral study programs. As international students in an EMI context, From an institutional point of view, the aims of introducing EMI
Indonesian graduate students seem to face a number of challenges in courses include an increase in the university’s reputation and hence
relation to their academic writing. Although a considerable amount of competitiveness to serve as an attractive power at a national and in­
research has focused on L2 English academic writing in EMI contexts ternational level (Björkman, 2011; Coleman, 2011; Coleman et al.,
elsewhere (Azizah and Budiman, 2017; Fajrina et al., 2021; Muflihun 2018; Macaro et al., 2018). Justifications for such attempts may include
and Tohamba, 2020; Setyowati and Sukmawan, 2016) the number of a decrease in the enrolment number of home students due to de­
studies focusing on Indonesian graduate students’ writing experiences in mographic change, national cuts in higher education investment, the
the EMI context of Hungarian Higher Education is scarce. Existing competition between state and private sectors, as well as the dominant
studies investigate undergraduate and graduate students’ academic use of English in different Categories of academia and professional life
writing experiences in the context of Indonesian Higher Education with (Coleman, 2006).
a research focus beyond essay writing in Social Sciences. EMI has real benefits to offer to faculty and students as well. These
To fill this gap, this paper investigates the experiences of Indonesian include participating in exchange programmes, presenting at confer­
graduate students when writing high-stakes academic essays to accu­ ences, and publishing in English, which, in turn, can promote these
mulate credit points in Hungarian EMI environments. The primary stakeholder groups’ mobility and employability at an international
objective of this study is to find out about these students’ perceptions as level. At the same time, however, EMI also poses considerable chal­
to the challenges and support provided by institutional policies and lenges to universities. From the point of view of faculty, challenges
subject courses in the EMI environment in Hungary during the accom­ include maintaining the high quality of teaching and learning while
plishment of L2 English academic essay assignments. Additionally, we using ELF as a working language, an inadequate level of language
aim to investigate the strategies the students use in order to navigate awareness in English, and the development of academic disciplines in
around the challenges they face during the process. the local languages (van Splunder, 2016).
To achieve this purpose, three research questions have been asked. In a recent systematic thematic synthesis of 40 empirical studies
focusing particularly on students’ perspectives, Ismailov et al. (2021)
1. According to Indonesian graduate students, to what extent do insti­ found that the participants faced similar challenges regardless of their
tutional policies pose challenges and support their successful geographical location and that these challenges were partly
accomplishment of L2 English academic writing requirements? language-related (e.g., lack of comprehension and low proficiency in
2. According to Indonesian graduate students, how do subject courses English of both lecturers and learners, lecturers’ poor language aware­
in Social Sciences pose challenges and support the successful ness and support), and partly related to the learning environment (e.g.,
accomplishment of L2 English academic essay writing requirements? ineffective curriculum design and self-access support, inadequate qual­
3. How do students tackle the challenges they face? ity of instruction, students’ anxiety and stress). While the study confirms
that students strongly believe EMI offers advantages in terms of the
Since the production of sufficient quality English academic texts is development of up-to-date content knowledge, enhancement of English
one of the high-stakes requirements of degree programmes, academic language skills, and improvement of long-term employability and career
writing is a particularly important issue in EMI contexts, the academic prospects, it also emphasizes that obstacles abound and may hinder the
essay being one of the most frequently set genres by content teachers effective implementation of EMI.
(Nesi and Gardner, 2012). At the same time, writing an academic essay A key area where students report encountering serious obstacles
is also a very complex and challenging task which imposes a number of while pursuing their goals is academic writing (Ismailov et al., 2021).
constraints on L2 English students (Hyland, 2009, p. 172; Widodo, The section below creates a context for understanding such challenges.
2000), and stakeholders in EMI environments need to better understand
these constraints in order to help students achieve their study goals in 2.2. Aspects of academic writing
Hungary and elsewhere. Our paper offers a contribution to serve this
purpose. Focus on the production of written discourse, as a field of study both
in L1 and L2 English contexts, has a long tradition in applied linguistics
2. Academic writing in EMI environments: a literature review (Matsuda and Silva, 2020). Complex and in-depth analyses of writing
started in the second part of the 20th century, after the introduction of
To create a context for the empirical study and understand the types L1 English composition studies and parallel university L2 writing
of challenges students in EMI environments may face, relevant issues in courses in the USA, giving rise to research in these areas (Leki, 2000).
EMI and academic writing are discussed below. Subsequent investigations have led to the recognition that writing is a
highly complex cognitive process, and in order for students to master the
2.1. English medium instruction in higher education skill of academic writing, they need explicit teaching and support by
well-informed and competent teachers who understand the multifaceted
In the past decades, there has been a rapid increase in the number of nature of written discourse and are capable of providing instruction and
university courses taught in EMI globally. This phenomenon has been guidance throughout the learning process (Hyland, 2003; Silliman et al.,
widely researched and documented in the literature, looking into the 2020).
definition and aims as well as the benefits and challenges of EMI from The complex nature of writing becomes clear when taking a closer
the point of view of different stakeholder groups: administrators, fac­ look at the relational, strategic, and textual aspects determining the
ulty, and students (for e review, see Coleman et al., 2018). process and product of writing (Biber and Conrad, 2019). From a rela­
According to Dearden and Spain (2021), for a university course to be tional point of view, writing is complex because text construction always

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takes place in a rhetorical situation shaped by the relationship between counterparts, L2 English students possess a distinct knowledge base of
the writer, the reader, the text, and reality. Due to the dynamic nature of grammar and vocabulary. Empirical research consistently demonstrates
rhetorical situations where the relationship between the elements is not that texts produced by L2 English students tend to be shorter, less
stable, written discourse cannot provide an exact depiction of reality. coherent, less cohesive, and contain a higher frequency of errors when
Instead, it will show the writers’ interpretation of reality which they compared to those written by their L1 peers (Hyland, 2003; Matsuda and
arrive at by socially and discursively negotiating meaning in any given Silva, 2020). These findings align with L2 English students’ perceptions,
rhetorical situation (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2014). who believe they produce academic texts more slowly and less
Academic writers respond to a rhetorical situation by engaging in a adequately than their native-English peers due to linguistic difficulties
series of complex cognitive activities, and they apply various strategies (Hwang, 2005; Tardy, 2004). Students also report their frustrations at
to support the process of writing while going through the stages of their inability to make meaning in writing due to a lack of academic
planning, drafting, and revising. For example, at the planning stage, vocabulary and grammatical resources they would need to express ideas
writers may find it useful to create a mind map to help collect, catego­ accurately and appropriately (Hyland, 2003).
rize, organize and evaluate content points and arguments they plan to This is a relevant issue in EMI environments as well, since the min­
include in their text. Drafting is a crucial stage of the process, and several imum language requirement for admission is usually B2 on the Common
workable strategies have been identified (Matsuda and Silva, 2020). European Framework of Reference (CEFR) scale (Dimova, 2020), and
Writers often find it useful, for example, to focus on particular elements many international students do not have the linguistic knowledge base
of writing (e.g., content points) while ignoring others (e.g., accuracy and of a competent user of English. Also, these students often experience
style) in order to reduce cognitive load and initial anxiety at the early further challenges because the linguistic environment in EMI contexts
stages of drafting. As for the revision stage, some strategies for editing may not support their language development as firmly as in
and proofreading include seeking advice from peers, letting the text sit English-speaking countries (Hyland, 2016; Langum and Sullivan, 2017).
for a while before revision, and checking the clarity of content points One feature of L2 English academic writing is that writers have
without paying attention to language usage. While not all writing stra­ already developed their writing skills in their L1 by the time they are
tegies are used consciously by experienced writers, research has shown required to write academic texts in L2 English. While findings on the
that students can benefit from explicit instruction regarding the effective extent and nature of the impact of L1 on L2 English writing vary, it has
use of writing strategies (Hyland, 2003). been shown that proficiency in L1 writing may not always be success­
The textual aspect of academic writing is concerned with the phys­ fully transferred to L2 writing situations (Hyland, 2003). This is because
ical realization of the meaning-making process the writer goes through not all aspects of proficiency in L2 writing have a direct link to L1
while negotiating their ideas, creating a relationship with the readers, writing abilities. Research has shown that students who are competent
and helping them navigate through the text (Halliday and Matthiessen, writers in their L1 may still find it difficult to develop high-quality texts
2014). Thus, writers need to know how to construct a coherent piece of in L2 English due to different linguistic and rhetorical conventions in
writing, one that contains logically and semantically consistent units of their L1 and L2. Some of the consequences are that the composing
meaning for their audience; and how to apply grammatical and lexical processes in the two languages may differ, L1 composing competence
cohesive devices which link (parts of) sentences in order to hold the text and writing strategies may not be directly transferable to L2, setting
together and contribute to the creation of coherent text (Halliday, goals and collecting ideas in L2 may be more demanding, writers in their
1985). L2 may be less fluent and, as a result, their text will be less effective
While each text is unique, every piece of writing is created and (Leki, 1992; Silva, 1997). The challenges that stem from a lack of direct
interpreted in relation to other texts in particular rhetorical situations transferability of L1 writing skills to L2 situations also apply to EMI
(Bakhtin, 1986). It is the concept of genre that has been instrumental in environments (Björk et al., 2003).
understanding types of oral and written discourse that characterize Cultural differences are regarded as an important feature in L2 aca­
different rhetorical situations. Based on Swales’s (1990) work on written demic writing (Hyland, 2003). Culture in applied linguistics is broadly
academic discourse, the term ‘genre’ is defined as a communicative understood as a network of socially formed and shared meanings that
event having a specific communicative purpose realized with the help of affects a group of people’s knowledge and understanding of the world
stages and move structures by members of discourse communities. In and shapes the activities they engage in, how they think, and what de­
university contexts, this implies that students need to be aware of cisions they take (Kramsch, 2012). Language development and use are
genre-specific purposes of academic text types and be able to follow a set inextricably linked to culture, and the cultural background of L2 aca­
of conventions and expectations when pursuing their communicative demic writers can strongly influence the ways they think about the aims
goals in writing (Nesi and Gardner, 2012, p. 21). of a writing task as well as about the process and product of writing.
This section has provided insights into the complex nature of aca­ Students’ and their teachers’ differing cultural values can easily lead to
demic writing, supporting Leki’s (1992, p. 10) claim that ‘no one is a different and even conflicting interpretations as to the aims, nature, and
“native speaker” of writing.’ Research also suggests that despite simi­ requirements of academic writing tasks.
larities, there are notable differences between L1 and L2 writers Divergent attitudes to academic writing often stem from the way
(Hyland, 2003). The section below focuses on novice L2 English aca­ ‘knowledge’ is conceptualized in different traditions (Hyland, 2003). In
demic writers and the challenges they face. Western cultures, for example, knowledge can be extended through
analysis, critical thinking, speculation, and transformation, while many
2.3. L2 English academic writers: characteristics and challenges Asian cultures value existing knowledge and support the reiteration,
description, and summary of well-established ideas. Such divergent at­
To clarify the discussion of academic writing challenges in this study, titudes have consequences in terms of beliefs about text quality and
the term Challenge refers to the various difficulties or obstacles that what is regarded as a piece of good writing: individuality, creativity, and
Indonesian graduate students may face when accomplishing English originality from a Western, and a display of knowledge and respect to­
academic essay assignments in the EMI environments in Hungary. Some wards outstanding scholars from an Asian point of view. This is closely
studies (see e.g. Fajrina et al., 2021; Raimes, 1987; Raoofi et al., 2017) linked to issues in writer identity as well. Thus, while expressions of the
have highlighted that language proficiency can be a significant chal­ author’s individually, authorial self, and voice are encouraged in
lenge in English academic writing. This is because an essential aspect of Western cultures, L2 English writers from more collectivist cultures may
L2 English academic writing is the parallel development of students’ find it difficult to realize these expectations (Ramanathan and Atkinson,
proficiency in morphological, syntactic, and lexical aspects alongside 1999).
their academic writing skills. In comparison to their native speaker Differences in attitudes explain why students and their teachers with

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divergent cultural backgrounds may regard uncited borrowings from studying at two universities in Budapest. As these students fulfilled the
other people’s work either as homage or plagiarism. As for L2 English criteria set for the study, the sample was qualified in accordance with
students’ attitudes towards plagiarism in European EMI environments, the research strand (Creswell and Clark, 2018). An invitation to
Doró (2016) has found that although students are aware of the negative participate in the study was sent to and accepted by the students, who
judgment regarding plagiarism, they find it difficult to clearly identify also signed a letter of consent before data collection procedures started.
instances of uncited borrowings and to understand why and how these An overview of participants’ background can be found in Table 1.
should be avoided. Observing the requirements of anonymity and confidentiality, pseudo­
Culture-based beliefs about knowledge, text quality, and writer nyms have been used.
identity can have an impact on the academic writing process and in­ The procedures for the semi-structured interviews followed the
fluence the evaluation of the end-product as well. This is particularly the interview guide approach in which the specification of related topics
case in cross-cultural teaching and learning contexts, including EMI and issues was given in the interview schedule (Prescott, 2011). In order
environments, if the teachers are not aware of possible writing-related to investigate the participants’ challenges in writing high-stakes aca­
cultural differences, and the students do not clearly understand the ex­ demic essays, the interview focused on the following themes:
pectations towards good quality academic texts in a given context.
In this review, we have seen that both L1 and L2 English academic 1. Students’ academic background
writers face challenges when accomplishing academic writing tasks Sample questions:
because they are expected to fulfil requirements in line with the • How long have you been learning English?
rhetorical, disciplinary, and institutional conventions of a particular • What experiences do you have in writing academic texts?
discourse community. Novice L2 English academic writers face further 2. Students’ viewpoints regarding institutional policies in supporting
challenges due to their relatively limited language proficiency, the English academic writing
insufficient transferability of L1 writing skills, and their culture- Sample questions:
embedded attitudes to writing which may differ from those of their • What support does your faculty provide to help improve your academic
teachers. writing? (e.g. an English for academic writing course, plagiarism tools)
The issues discussed in this section are highly relevant to our • What other support would you need? (e.g. an English for academic
empirical study, which aims to identify challenges in relation to insti­ writing course) Why?
tutional policies and subject courses. Based on the literature, potential 3. Students’ viewpoints in connection with essay assignments in con­
challenges can be divided into categories depending on their orienta­ tent courses
tion. Thus, language-related challenges refer to issues regarding stu­ Sample questions:
dents’ L2 English proficiency and academic writing skills, as well as their • To what extent are you satisfied with your subject teachers’ skills in
distinct level of competencies in writing academic texts in their L1 and terms of teaching in English?
L2. Culture-related challenges include attitudes to the establishment and • What problems do you have during fulfilling your essay requirements?
transmission of knowledge, including issues of writer identity, plagia­ • How do you tackle these problems?
rism and the role of artificial intelligence in academic text development.
A third group of challenges consists of issues concerning the EMI context The interviews were conducted and audio-recorded in face-to-face
itself, including a lack, or inadequacy of policies, (human and material) sessions in L1 Indonesian, running approximately 30–40 min each.
resources, frameworks and requirements focusing specifically on inter­ The students’ L1 was used in order to assist the participants in exploring
national students. their feelings, thoughts, and experiences and help them feel more at ease
when answering the questions.
3. Research design For data analysis, the audio-recorded interviews were transcribed
using Web Speech API (Adorf, 2013). The transcriptions were then
In order to answer the research questions with regards Indonesian analyzed and codified by employing Atlas.ti, a computer-assisted tool
graduate students’ challenges when writing high stakes academic es­ that facilitates qualitative coding (Woolf and Silver, 2018). The resulting
says, the study employed a qualitative research technique: semi- codes were then used to establish emerging themes within Categories.
structured interviews. This is because the investigation aimed to gain An example of tag-cloud codes is shown in Fig. 1. Relevant quotations
a better understanding of relevant phenomena and draw attention to the from the transcripts, to support research findings, were also translated
process, meaning patterns and structural features of the people who into English.
participate (Busetto et al., 2020; Creswell, 2014; Dornyei, 2007; Patton, The researchers examined several aspects in order to validate the
2015). Semi-structured interviews can serve this purpose well using code. First, the code was compiled based on their frequency. Second,
open-ended questions which also allow considerable flexibility during only selected codes relevant to institutional policies (e.g., an English
data collection (Creswell, 2014; DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006). course for academic writing) and subject courses (e.g., essay assessments)
Participants were selected in several steps, where the criteria used were used. Third, the researchers evaluated the transcripts to ensure that
were the following: academic year when the study program started,
students’ faculty affiliation, academic essay writing requirements and
level of proficiency in English. The 2019/2020 academic year was Table 1
selected for the study due to the number of the Indonesian students Students’ background information.
enrolled to the Faculty of Social Sciences. In the 2019/2020 academic Pseudonym Gender Age Disciplines CEFR/ Location
year, altogether 30 students applied for Hungarian HE master’s degree IELTS
programs, and most of the students enrolled to the Faculty of Social Eka Female 26 International Relations B2/6.5 Budapest
Sciences (n = 19) (PPI Hongaria, 2022). Also, for the purposes of the Dwi Female 27 International Relations B2/6.5 Budapest
research, the participants needed to write academic essay assignments in Triana Female 27 International Relations C1/7.5 Budapest
and Regional and
their courses, which was a requirement in Social Sciences. Participants
Environmental
also needed to have a B2 or above level proficiency in English, because Economics.
this is a general prerequisite for course admission in EMI (Dimova, 2020; Catur Male 28 International Relations B2/6.0 Budapest
Tempus Public Foundation, 2021). and Regional and
Purposive sampling (Knott et al., 2022) was applied to select the Environmental
Economics.
research participants: three female students and one male student

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D. Subandowo and C. Sárdi Ampersand 11 (2023) 100158

Fig. 1. Tag-cloud codification in ATLAS.ti Version 8.4.5 (1136).

they were relevant to the codes. Following that, the researchers made identified: availability of academic writing courses and an access to
notes in the code based on essential points found in the transcripts. online learning platforms. Challenges include subject teachers’ low
Finally, the codes that closely related to the central category were English proficiency and a lack of resources in English in the library.
grouped. For example, the codes time management and assessments were
categorized into the domain of subject courses. 4.1.1. Institutional policies: support
Academic writing courses available for international students help
4. Results encourage the successful accomplishment of essay writing tasks in the
Faculty of Social Sciences. In Example 1, Eka responded that a course in
Data analysis has resulted in 18 themes, which were categorized into academic writing is required for EMI students of International Relations.
three Categories relating to the three research questions respectively: The students can register and receive benefits from the course, partic­
institutional support (n = 4), content course support (n = 5), students’ ularly to improve their academic writing assignments for their studies.
ways of dealing with challenges (n = 9). The Categories and themes are She also noted, however, that the course was offered in the second se­
summarized in Table 2, and a detailed description and discussion of the mester, a disadvantage from the point of view of the first semester ac­
results are provided below. ademic writing requirements.
Example 1. “We had an English for academic writing course in the
4.1. Category 1: institutional policies second semester, I believe if the subject was taught at the beginning
of our studies, we would have fundamental knowledge to write En­
The Category of institutional policies was divided into two macro glish academic essays”. (Eka)
themes: support and challenges. In terms of support, two themes were
It must be noted, however, that not all students have the opportunity
to attend academic writing courses. In Example 2, Catur expresses his
Table 2
need for such an opportunity, also demonstrating his awareness as to the
Categories and themes based on the results of qualitative coding.
usefulness of an academic writing course, especially to support thesis
Categories Themes writing.
institutional support available courses in English for academic writing
policies courses
Example 2. “Unfortunately, no academic writing courses are
accessible learning platforms available in our curriculum. Such a course, I believe, is important
challenges subject teachers’ low proficiency in English for us, and it should be offered in our program to help us improve our
lack of resources in English in the university library writing, particularly when writing our thesis at the end of our
studies." (Catur)
subject courses support perceived improvement in English academic writing
relevance of assigned topics Students are also aware of the benefits of accessible learning plat­
challenges assessment criteria of writing assignments (i.e. forms, Moodle and Urkund, from the point of view of their writing as­
plagiarism, importance of grammatical accuracy, the signments, as can be seen in Example 3. This is because Moodle provides
use of technical vocabulary, word length)
a platform for providing and sharing course materials and for submitting
time management
assignments. Urkund, on the other hand, is a plagiarism checker soft­
ware provided by the university to help students detect plagiarism issues
students’ ways of tackling double-checking the writing task description
as well as to correct grammatical errors.
challenges using open access journals
reading widely to enhance technical vocabulary Example 3. “Our university provides learning platforms, such as
consulting dictionaries and thesauri
Moodle and Urkund to assist students in downloading our subject
using online writing tools
writing in long sentences materials and submitting essays assignments." (Triana)
using timetables

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4.1.2. Institutional policies: challenges Example 8. “I am confident that the requirement of writing an
In Hungarian EMI settings, it may pose a challenge to universities to essay every semester helps me improve my academic writing
provide qualified teachers who can teach their subject in English. Ac­ skills in English”.” (Catur)
cording to the respondents, not all teachers seem prepared to do this in
The perceived relevance of and enthusiasm towards the topic of an
an effective way, which is clearly a challenge. Examples 4 and 5 show
assignment also serve as a supporting factor in a content course. Indeed,
that students sometimes find it difficult to understand their teachers due
students may find the process of essay writing more motivating and
to their low level English proficiency.
rewarding when the topic represents their interests. Example 9 illus­
Example 4. “My university has provided excellent teachers who speak trates this point well.
very good English, but not all of them. I found that in one of my
Example 9. “When I have a topic that I am passionate about, it is
courses, there is one teacher who is not fluent in English, making
much easier for me to write the essay”. (Eka)
it difficult for me to understand the language while explaining the
materials and tasks.” (Catur)
4.2.2. Subject courses: challenges
Example 5. “I need to ask my classmates about the assignment given The participants identified two subject course-related challenges,
by the teacher, because his instructions in English are a little and the first one relates to the assessment criteria of the essays. Such
unclear, and I’m afraid I have misunderstood the task. The teacher challenges include plagiarism, the importance of grammatical correct­
once in a while thinks for a moment while trying to find the appro­ ness, expected use of specialized vocabulary and the required length of
priate word in English. (Triana) the text. This indicates that fulfilling the requirements of an academic
essay writing task may be a demanding task for many reasons. One such
According to the account given by Catur and Triana, students
challenge is to gather relevant information from reliable sources and
experience comprehension problems while their teachers are explaining
credit the sources adequately. As a result, students need to do their
the materials, or give instructions in English. Some teachers have
utmost to avoid plagiarism which is regarded as a serious offense in the
problems with fluency and trying to find the appropriate words. It is
academic world. In Example 10, Dwi reports on a 10 percent tolerance
important to note, however, that students also believe that their uni­
towards plagiarism.
versities mostly employ qualified teachers who can both teach their
subjects and speak English fluently. This view is voiced in Example 6 Example 10. “Before we submit our essay, we must ensure that it
below. contains less than 10% plagiarism. Our teacher assigned this as a
requirement. Papers containing more than 10% plagiarism are not
Example 6. “… most of our teachers are fluent in English and oc­
acceptable for submission”. (Dwi)
casionally use difficult English words when explaining the materials.
As a result, I usually open my mobile dictionary to look up the To achieve grade 5, the highest score in the Hungarian education
meaning of the words”. (Triana) system, the students are required to pay close attention to grammatical
correctness in their essays (Example 11). In a similar vein, the use of
In the category of institutional policies, another challenge lies in
discipline-related specific vocabulary in the essay is regarded as
finding adequate resources in English in the university library. One
important by the teachers, and influences the assessment in a positive
student mentioned that she struggles to find relevant literature in En­
way (Example 12).
glish about the topic assigned by her teacher (see Example 7).
Example 11. “When the teacher gave me a 4 for my paper due to
Example 7. “I was expecting my university to have a large English
grammatical accuracy problems for my middle test assignment, I
collection relevant to my subject assignments. When I went to my
was disappointed. The teacher stated that although my writing was
university library, however, I discovered that the literature was
fantastic, I deserved only the above score, because my grammatical
in Hungarian, making it difficult for me to understand and I could
errors downgraded my results from 5 to 4”. (Eka)
hardly find any relevant literature in English.”(Eka)
Writing an essay in Social Sciences necessitates access to adequate Example 12. “The use of complex technical words tends to have an
literature to assist students in developing their arguments, and the impact on the paper’s grade. Last semester, I developed my text by
university library is intended to be a repository of resources, including a using some academic words and received a better grade”. (Triana)
collection of relevant literature in English. This does not seem to be the
Text length is another important requirement to keep in mind when
case in this particular example, since international students have access
completing academic essay assignments. The participants are generally
to resources in Hungarian, making it challenging to find prepare prop­
required to write an essay ranging from 1500 to 5000 words for a course.
erly for an academic essay assignment.
This requirement is sometimes difficult to meet, and student feel they
are unable to produce the required number of words. Examples 13
highlights this problem.
4.2. Category 2: subject courses
Example 13. “My teacher generally asked us to write a paper of
The category of subject courses was also divided into the two macro minimum 1500 words or five pages in maximum. Honestly, I
themes ‘support’ and ‘challenges’. In terms of the support in subject sometimes get stuck for what to write after finishing, for example,
courses, two themes were identified: perceived improvement in English two pages”. (Catur)
academic writing and the relevance of assigned topics. Challenges relate
Another course-related challenge relates to time management.
to language issues as well as to the assessment criteria of writing
Teachers usually assign a deadline for essay submission. In Example 14,
assignments.
Eka feels that the time allocated by the teacher is too short, especially if
the requirement is to develop a high quality academic essay.
4.2.1. Subject courses: support
According to the response in Example 8, students believe that writing Example 14. “The deadline set by the professor does not appear to be
essays every semester helps improve their academic writing skills. This sufficient. We only have two weeks to turn in our assignment.
is a positive sign, because the perceived usefulness of the academic Because I have to work in a hurry and writing is not an easy task, I
writing tasks may increase students’ motivation and make them more expect my paper quality to suffer due to the limited time ". (Eka)
willing to invest time and effort into successful task accomplishment.

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4.3. Category 3: students’ ways to tackle challenges Example 22. I usually use Quillbot for paraphrasing when
improving my texts. I did not sign up for the premium service, but I
In order to the tackle the challenges discussed above, participants can use the website’s free trial. It helped me to expand my sentences.
have found a number of ways to help their task accomplishment. These (Triana)
were grouped into 8 themes: double-checking the task description,
subscribing to open assess journals, reading widely to enhance specific Example 23. “I usually write in long sentences so that I can cover
vocabulary knowledge, consulting dictionaries and thesauri, using on­ much ground and the paper requirement is met quickly." (Dwi)
line writing tools, researching online media, writing long sentences, and
Finally, Example 24 shows that the respondent uses a timetable in
using timetables.
order to ensure she can submit her assignment in time. The example also
Example 15 shows that students sometimes find it necessary to seek
indicates that the student is aware of the complexity of the task, and that
clarification regarding the essay writing task description, because the
the writing process encompasses several interrelated phases. She has
teacher’s oral description is difficult to follow. To double-check, the
decided to plan ahead, because this increases her chances to develop a
respondent seeks help from their peers and closely read the course
sufficient quality text within the available time frame.
description provided by the teacher.
Example 24. “I usually make a timetable to organize my plan for
Example 15. “I need to ask my classmates about the assignment
completing the task assigned by our professor, which is usually that
given by the teacher, because his instructions in English are a little
all essays are due at the end of the semester. Organizing a timetable is
unclear, and I worry that I misunderstood the task. I also read the
really helpful for me to remember what I should do before the
materials presented by the teacher in order to understand the
completion date comes”. (Triana)
subject”. (Catur)
Due to a lack of resources in English in the library, participants turn
5. Discussion
to open access journals available through university subscription. The
student in Example 16 states that she uses her personal email address
The study aims to answer three research questions, and the results
provided by the university to access relevant articles.
will be discussed below accordingly. Research Question 1 investigated
Example 16. “I discovered that the literature was in Hungarian, the extent to which institutional policies supported the successful
making it difficult for me to understand and I could hardly find accomplishment of L2 English academic writing requirements according
relevant literature in English. Since then, I’ve been using my to Indonesian graduate students.
institutional personal email to access the literature provided by Findings show that some support is provided in the form of learning
open access journals, as my university has subscribed to a number platforms to help students access materials and submit assignments, and
of the journals relevant to my subject.”(Eka) of English Academic Writing courses to help students improve their
academic writing skills. Learning platforms are beneficial, because stu­
To fulfil the writing task assessment criteria, a technique students use
dents can download and make use of study materials and check
is to read widely. Examples 17 and 18 show that this technique is
plagiarism before submission (Belli et al., 2020; Gamage et al., 2022;
instrumental in learning specific vocabulary items and using them in the
Lowney, 2022; McSalim, 2020; Önaçan et al., 2019). English Academic
written assignment.
Writing courses are useful, because they can raise students’ awareness
Example 17. “First and foremost, I collect and read relevant liter­ and provide effective practice focusing on sample writing tasks (Cross­
ature as much as possible before beginning to write, and … I learn ley, 2020; Russell, 2014). However, results also show that EAP courses
new technical vocabulary as I read more papers. (Catur) are either not offered in every case, or they are scheduled too late from
the point of view of the Indonesian students’ needs, which is clearly a
Example 18. I always checked BBC, CNN, Aljazeera, and News and challenge.
Politics stories. They provide advantages through updates and word Another problem relates to the English proficiency level of subject
improvements that I can use in my writing”. (Ana) teachers as perceived by their Indonesian students. According to the
respondents, not all teachers are fluent in English making it difficult for
Another helpful technique is to consult online dictionaries and
the students to understand study content and tasks in such cases. It has
thesauri in order to check specific vocabulary and find synonyms that
been emphasized in the literature that for the successful implementation
are appropriate in academic contexts (Example 19).
of EMI courses, the availability of highly qualified faculty both discipline
Example 19. “I usually look up academic words or synonyms and language-wise is essential (van Splunder, 2016).
using my mobile dictionary or an online thesaurus. I use Apart from some subject teachers’ inadequate proficiency in English,
thesaurus to find academic words. As a result, I am confident that my another language related challenge is the limited range and number of
writing has improved”. (Catur) content course-related resources in English in the university library.
Access to such materials may help students expand their knowledge and
The participants also reported on their use of online writing tools,
reading skills as a solid basis when making claims and developing ar­
such as Google Translate, Gramarly and Quillbot in order to meet the
guments in academic essays (Dewan, 2010; Mahwasane, 2017).
assessment requirements of their writing tasks, more specifically, to
Research question 2 examined the extent to which subject courses in
ensure grammatical correctness and accurate punctuation, to help
Social Sciences support the successful accomplishment of L2 English
paraphrase a text to avoid plagiarism, to translate existing ideas in L1
academic essay writing requirements according to Indonesian students.
Indonesian to L2 English, and to ensure text length by developing long
It is an important finding that students regard their essays writing
sentences. These techniques are mentioned in Examples 20–23.
tasks as useful in terms of fluency development in academic writing.
Example 20. “I usually use Google Translate and Grammarly to This is in line with ideas put forward in the literature review of this
check my grammar, punctuation and to improve my writing. (Ana) paper. Writing high quality academic essays is a complex and time-
consuming task, and mastering the skill of academic writing is one of
Example 21. “I frequently use Google Translate to translate my ideas the most challenging tasks for novice writers (Matsuda and Silva, 2020),
into the texts." Sometimes I think in Indonesian and then translate since they are expected to present carefully developed and clearly
my thoughts into English. This method assists me in developing the expressed ideas in a logical linear order supported by arguments that are
sentences."(Catur) rigorously reasoned and tightly stitched together (Fang, 2021).

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Therefore, academic writing development takes much practice and a extension in their field of study. Perceived challenges relate to vague or
long time in L2 English as well (Penris and Verspoor, 2017). Results unclear task descriptions and assessment criteria, and demanding sub­
show that Indonesian students are aware of this, and they are willing to mission deadlines.
devote the necessary time and energy to the task. This work is further In order to tackle these challenges, students have developed several
supported by their belief that the writing tasks are also beneficial from a ways to accomplish essay writing tasks as sufficiently as possible. Thus,
disciplinary point of view. This can serve as a motivating factor in the they seek additional help to clarify task description consulting their
process of writing development. peers and course description materials. To meet the assessment criteria,
A challenge students face in content courses relates to the assessment they read extensively, and use online writing tools to increase text
criteria of the assignments regarding plagiarism, the linguistic features quality from the point of view of grammar, specific vocabulary, coher­
of the text and deadline for submission. The findings support existing ence, text length and plagiarism. To face time management issues, they
research results indicating that international students may find it diffi­ use timetables in order to keep track of the phases in the writing process.
cult to meet requirements in terms of plagiarism, which may, at least
partly, be due to divergent perceptions as to what exactly is meant by 7. Limitations
plagiarism (Hyland, 2003). Another challenge is that linguistics
competence (i.e. grammatical accuracy and the appropriate use of The researchers recognize that the research has limitations in regard
technical vocabulary) plays an important role in the assessment process. to three aspects. First, the small number of participants does not make
Although the students’ level of proficiency is B2 or above, the influence generalizability of the findings possible. Second, the present study only
of their L1 background as well as their inexperience in L2 English aca­ concerns universities located in Budapest. Third, the semi-structured
demic writing may leads to inconsistencies in their use of English interviews focus exclusively on students’ points of view. In the future,
(Hyland, 2003). While students are aware that their accuracy and therefore, more Indonesian students studying in a wider range of Hun­
appropriateness can influence their score, a further difficulty may be garian EMI contexts are needed in order to provide generalizable find­
that the deadline set for essay submission does not make it possible for ings regarding the challenges they face. This is a realistic aim since the
them to devote sufficient amount of time to successful task achievement. number of Indonesian students applying for Hungarian EMI study pro­
Research question 3 focused on the ways Indonesian students have grams is increasing (Doddy, 2022; PPI Hongaria, 2022). Also, future
developed in order to face these challenges. studies could look into other stakeholder groups’ viewpoints as to the
To deal with unclear instructions, students seek help from their peers extent institutional policies and subject courses in the Faculty of Social
and consult course materials in order to clarify writing task descriptions Sciences help students achieve academic essay requirements by applying
and requirements. To compensate for a lack of resources in English in the a variety of data collection techniques besides interviews.
library, students make use of the e-library facilities of the universities to
be able to read open access journals. In order to enhance the language 8. Pedagogical implications
features of the essays, students read widely and consult dictionaries and
thesauri, which increase their range of specific vocabulary, and use These research findings have several pedagogical implications.
online writing tools, which enhances grammatical correctness, punctu­ Firstly, it is recommended that a course in English for academic writing
ation and spelling. Writing tools, such as Quillbot, may also support be offered in Hungarian EMI contexts focusing on international stu­
students’ attempts to paraphrase sentences. This supports students in dents’ needs, and it is also recommended that such a course be intro­
creating syntactically complex and informationally dense sentences duced in the first semester of the study program. This would make it
(Al-Khazraji, 2019; Dumlao and Wilang, 2019), and in avoiding possible to take into account students’ cultural background in terms of
plagiarism (Fitria, 2021). their academic writing-related beliefs and experiences, and to enhance
Finally, in response to the tight deadlines imposed by the teacher, students’ chances to fulfill essay writing requirements set by teaches in a
students use timetables to help them divide the work into phases and different cultural context while working in the discourse community of a
keep track of available time. This technique is also mentioned in the particular discipline, in this case Social Sciences. An English for Aca­
literature. MacIntyre (2019) maintains that students need to be demic Purposes course would also make it possible to help students
accountable for their actions and be able to manage their time effec­ improve their linguistic competence including grammatical correctness,
tively. Hyland (2003) suggests that careful time management is essential general-academic and discipline-specific vocabulary, syntax, coherence
help for students in their studies. and cohesion.
Secondly, students need to be informed about and encouraged to use
6. Conclusion the e-library facilities of the university. Results indicate that students
need to rely on their own initiative to discover such opportunities. In­
This study investigated Indonesian graduate students’ experiences formation and training provided by the institutions would increase the
when writing high stakes academic essays in Hungarian EMI environ­ accessibility of study materials and literature in English.
ments, and aimed to find out what challenges such environments pose to Thirdly, it would be beneficial if subject teachers in EMI environ­
Indonesian students with a specific focus on the support they receive ments were provided institutional help and support focusing on their
both in-class and out-of-class, as well as their ways to tackle these command of discipline-related academic English as well as their profi­
challenges. ciency in terms of language pedagogy. Students need teachers who are
Findings indicate that institutional policies do not always make it proficient in academic English and are able to adjust their language to
possible for students to participate in English for academic writing the level and needs of their students.
courses, and if so, such a course is not offered in the beginning of the Fourthly, teachers are recommended that they define and clarify the
study program, when students would need it the most. Also, as perceived content and requirements of essay assignments as soon as possible. This
by the students, some content teachers’ proficiency in English is rela­ way students’ chances increase to be able to spend the time they need to
tively low, indicating that universities may face a shortage in adequately prepare and produce a sufficiently written essay in order to earn credit
qualified faculty members who are also proficient in L2 English. Finally, points for their subject courses.
another English-related challenge is the scarcity of resources available in Finally, it would be motivating for international students if content
English in the university library. teachers could advise them in terms of the resources that can be used
Regarding subject courses, results show that students find academic effectively to improve, language-wise, the quality of academic essays.
essay writing useful, because they believe these tasks can substantially For example, recommending literature and online writing tools to
contribute to fluency development in English and to knowledge enlarge students’ specific vocabulary and to ensure accuracy may

8
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Dedy Subandowo is a Ph.D. student of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Theo­
Global.
retical Linguistics, Pázmány Péter Catholic University (PPCU), Hungary. He is also a
Patton, M.Q., 2015. Qualitative Research And Evaluation Methods (Fourth Edi). SAGE
member of the teaching staff in the English Education Department of the Faculty of
Publication Ltd.
Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah (UM) Metro, Indonesia. His
Penris, W., Verspoor, M., 2017. Academic writing development: a complex, dynamic
research interests involve EFL/ESL academic writing, academic discourse, and writing
process. In: Pfenninger, S.E., Navracsics, J. (Eds.), Future Research Directions for
strategies. His doctoral research is about Indonesian graduate students’ academic writing
Applied Linguistics, pp. 2015–2242. Multilingual Matters. https://research.rug.nl/en
challenges in a non-native English-speaking environment. He can be contacted via email at
/publications/academic-writing-development-a-complex-dynamic-process.
subandowo.dedy@hallgato.ppke.hu.
Prescott, F.J., 2011. Validating A long qualitative interview schedule. Working Papers
in Language Pedagogy (WoPaLP) 5, 16–38.
Raimes, A., 1987. Language proficiency, writing ability, and composing strategies: a Csilla Sárdi is an associate professor at Pázmány Péter Catholic University. She is also the
study of ESL college student writers. Lang. Learn. 37 (3), 439–468. https://doi.org/ chair of the Department of English Language Pedagogy and Translation Studies. Her
10.1111/j.1467-1770.1987.tb00579.x. research focuses mainly on learning and teaching English as a foreign language in higher
Ramanathan, V., Atkinson, D., 1999. Individualism, academic writing, and ESL writers. education, and her published studies are on intercultural communication, institutional
J. Sec Lang. Writ. 8 (1), 45–75. language policy, teaching and learning ESP, and content and language integrated learning.
Raoofi, S., Binandeh, M., Rahmani, S., 2017. An investigation into writing strategies She can be approached via email: sardi.csilla@btk.ppke.hu
and writing proficiency of university students. J. Lang. Teach. Res. 8 (1), 191–198.
https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0801.24.

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