PROBLEMS IN WRITING UNDERGRADUATE THESIS FACED BY THE STUDENTS OF BATCH 2017, ENGISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM, FKIP ULM

Abstract

ABSTRACT Aprilia. 2022. Problems in Writing Undergraduate Thesis Faced by the Students of batch 2017, English Language Education Study Program, FKIP ULM. Sarjana’s Thesis. English Language Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Lambung Mangkurat University, Banjarmasin. The first advisor: Dr. Jumariati, M.Pd., the second advisor: Fahmi Hidayat, M.Pd. Keywords: cognitive factors, linguistics factors, problems writing thesis, psychological factors This study aims to find out the problems in writing undergraduate thesis faced by the students of the English Language Education Study Program in batch 2017 of FKIP ULM. This research focuses on the problems that the students face in writing a thesis which includes psychological factors, linguistics factors, and cognitive factors of students. This study used a descriptive design with a qualitative approach. The participants of this study were the students of batch 2017 of the English Education Study Program who were preparing a thesis. Furthermore, some students were selected to be interviewed based on the result of the questionnaire as preliminary data to find out deeper information about the factors that inhibit students in writing a thesis. This research used the interactive model to analyze the data consisting of data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusions. The results of the study showed that the students had problems that affected them in writing their thesis. The problems were categorized based on three factors. The first and most common factor was psychological factors which included lack of motivation and lack of confidence. The second factor was linguistic factors which consisted of difficulties in using the correct grammar and appropriate vocabulary. The last factor was cognitive factor dealing with organizational and content aspects that were the difficulties in organizing ideas and the difficulties in paraphrasing the text sources into their thesis. Therefore, it is suggested that students have sufficient preparation before writing a thesis, motivate themselves and build confidence in writing their thesis by reading research articles and discussing with their classmates. The lecturers are suggested to consider the findings of this study and paying more attention to the problems that their students face in writing thesis. They can help their students by focusing more on motivating them, giving meaningful feedback and providing sufficient time for the consultation process. Finally, other researchers are recommended to conduct further studies by investigating more on the ways students solve their problems in writing an undergraduate thesis.