The Academic Writing Needs of Students - A Case Study on Stakeholder Perspectives

Oct 15, 2026

The expansion of English-medium instruction has increased demand for programs where English serves as the teaching medium, yet the degree to which these programs meet students’ expectations remains insufficiently understood. This case study investigates academic writing needs through stakeholders’ perspectives. Nine participants (five students, one language instructor, and three content teachers) were selected via snowball sampling and interviewed with semi-structured questions. Findings highlight the need for greater investment in academic writing courses to support disciplinary register familiarity and future course requirements.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Stakeholder Perspectives and EMI Background

Prior Studies and Contrasting Findings

Challenges and Need for Contextual Understanding

Acuity: Journal of English Language Pedagogy, Literature, and Culture. Vol. 7 No. 2022 [https://jurnal.unai.edu/index.php/acuity](https://jurnal.unai.edu/index.php/acuity) The Academic Writing Needs of Students: A Case Study on Stakeholder Perspectives Hasan Sağlamel1 Department of English Language and Literature, Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey [hsaglamel@ktu.edu.tr](hsaglamel@ktu.edu.tr) Zeynep Merve Aydoğdu2 Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey DOI: 10.35974/acuity.v7i2.2541 Abstract The international appeal of English has resulted in an expansion of courses adopting English-medium instruction, and many institutions require students to pursue their studies in programs with English medium. However, to what extent these programs meet the expectations is yet to be understood. Numerous studies have documented the effectiveness of EMI particularly in English as a foreign language contexts. However, perspectives of different stakeholders were not adequately captured. The present study attempts to fill this void by exploring students' needs of academic writing from the perspectives of different stakeholders. A total of 9 participants, namely, 5 students, a language instructor, and 3 teachers of content professors were selected using the snowball sampling method. All the participants were selected from a department offering English-medium instruction at a state university in Turkey. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The results show that students require more investment in academic writing courses to get familiar with the disciplinary register and fulfil the requirements of future English courses. The stakeholders’ perspectives are compared to have a better understanding of students’ needs, lacks and wants. The study suggests some implications to approach language education policies more critically. Keywords: Academic writing, English medium instruction (EMI), stakeholder perspectives, writing needs INTRODUCTION EMI can be described as “the use of the English language to teach academic subjects in countries or jurisdictions where the first language (L1) of the majority of the population is not English”(Dearden, 2014, p. 2) . With the thrust of globalization, the importance attached to English has been gaining momentum in higher education institutions. As a result, English has had significant demand both in education and in private sectors such as tourism, international industry and overseas business (Kırkgöz, 2007) . The widespread demand and use of English in an increasingly globalizing market, the internationalization attempts of universities and the stiff competition in the form of research publications have had a correspondingly growing emphasis in educational settings (Macaro & Akincioglu, 2018; Macaro et al. , 2017;). Galloway Corresponding Author: Hasan Sağlamel, Kanuni Campus, C-Block, 2nd Floor, C-210, Department of English Language and Literature, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, 61080, [Turkey. hsaglamel@ktu.edu.tr](Turkey. hsaglamel@ktu.edu.tr) et al. (2017) explain EMI as an opportunity to ‘to kill two birds with one stone’ (p. 6) . Eventhough these developments make EMI appealing especially with reference to its triggering of‘global competitiveness’ (Kim, Kweon, & Kim, 2016) , not all stakeholders are equally receptive to EMI instruction (Ekoç, 2018) as such instruction brings substantial challenges (Yıldız, Soruç & Griffiths, 2017) . Therefore, the effectiveness of EMI was called into question in many studies (Aslan, 2017; Bozdoğan & Karlıdağ, 2013; Ekoç, 2018; Karakaş, 2016, 2019; Kılıçkaya, 2006; Kırkgöz, 2009; Sert, 2008; Yıldız, Soruç, & Griffiths, 2017; Zaif, Karapınar,& Yangın Eksi, 2017) . Previous studies into the effectiveness of English medium instruction have yielded conflicting findings, and Selvi (2014, p. 133) explains the multifaceted nature of the role of EMI through the metaphor of a pendulum, which “oscillat[es] between natio

FAQs

What is the focus of the study?

The study explores students’ academic writing needs through the perspectives of multiple stakeholders in an EMI context.

Who participated in the case study?

Nine participants took part: five students, a language instructor, and three content teachers.

How were data collected?

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and participants were selected using snowball sampling.

Oct 15, 2026

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