Academic Writing Difficulties and Motivation: Comparing International and Domestic First-Year Doctoral Students

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session Six
  In Roundtable Session: Doctoral Education and the Global South (Table 1)

Abstract

Most doctoral students need to improve their writing, but they will only if motivated. Survey data were collected from first-year doctoral students across Colleges in a large US research university (n = 111). International students reported greater writing difficulty, F (1) =15,957, p < .001, η2 = .164, but lower motivation to improve, F (1) =4.921 p < .001, η2 = .164, when compared to domestic students after controlling for GRE Analytic Writing scores. We need more research on factors affecting motivation to improve writing. Researchers tend to silo domestic and international students, but we argue the benefit of explicit comparisons.

Authors

• Iman Khudhair, University of Mosul
  Non-Presenting Author

• David N. Boote, University of Central Florida
  Presenting Author