Writing for Academic Purposes

It is undeniable that academic writing plays a crucial role in tertiary education. University students, particularly postgraduates, are required to master this skill effectively since it is their only gate for graduation; however, it tends to be a challenge for most of them. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the major linguistic problems faced by EFL second-year Master¿s at Biskra University when they attempt to write an academic essay or assignment and the causes behind those problems. Furthermore, this study had a particular concern on the effects of gender on the students¿ academic writing, i.e., this study compared the differences between both genders¿ academic written work. With an effort to accomplish those objectives, a students¿ writing task and teachers¿ semi-structured interview were adopted in this study.