

The same report highlighted those international students contribute an estimated 40% of all tuition fees collected by Canadian universities, accounting for almost $4 billion in their annual revenue in 2018/2019 ( Statistics Canada, 2020). Statistics Canada reported that over the past 10 years, between 019, enrollments for Canadian students in formal programs grew by 10.9% whereas number of international students tripled over the same period ( Statistics Canada, 2020). The international student population at Canadian Universities is on the rise. The findings are disseminated with relevant stakeholders at the university and beyond using scientific presentations and publications. Both students and faculty members shared that discipline-specific training is required to ensure success in academic writing, which can be provided in the form of a formal course specifically designed for doctoral students wherein discipline-specific support is provided from faculty supervisors and editing support is provided from English language experts.Įthics and Dissemination: The general research ethics board of the university approved the study (#6024751). Quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) and qualitative data was managed and analyzed using NVivo.ĭiscussion: The study findings suggest that academic writing should be integrated into the formal training of doctoral graduate students from the beginning of the program. The FGD guide was informed by the preliminary findings of the survey data. Following the survey, four focus group discussions (FGDs) were held, two each with two groups of our participants with an aim to achieve data saturation.
#May writing challenge software
The survey was designed using a digital software called Qualtrics™. A cross-sectional online survey was designed and disseminated to the potential study participants using internal communications systems of the university.

Methods and Analysis: We conducted a sequential explanatory mixed-method study using an online survey and subsequent focus group discussions with EAL doctoral students (n = 114) and faculty supervisors (n = 31).

In this study, we explored academic writing challenges faced by EAL doctoral students and faculty supervisors at a research intensive post-secondary university in Canada. Further, faculty supervisors often feel burdened by reviewing and editing multiple drafts and find it difficult to help and support EAL students in the process of scientific writing. As a result, many graduate students, especially those having English as an Additional Language (EAL), face significant challenges in scholarly writing. However, in some cases, limited or no specific training on academic writing is provided to them to do this effectively.

Graduate students are expected to write in a scholarly manner for their thesis and scholarly publications. Introduction: Academic writing is a core element of a successful graduate program, especially at the doctoral level. 3Department of Chemistry, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada.2School of Optometry, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.1Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada.Shikha Gupta 1*, Atul Jaiswal 1, Abinethaa Paramasivam 2 and Jyoti Kotecha 3
