Abstract/Summary

This study explores how fifteen English language major undergraduate students in the University of Prishtina in Kosovo learned how to write in English for Academic Purposes courses, the challenges they encountered in learning how to write in a new discourse community and the changes that occurred in their views and practices as writers. In light with most recent research that views writing as a social practice, this study adopts an academic literacies approach to explore second year students’ writing experiences. To investigate their writing experiences, the data was drawn from three main sources: a) semi structured interviews that were conducted four times over a span of six months, b) questionnaire and c) advice letters addressed to prospective students at two different points in time. The findings of this study suggest that writing is a complex and dynamic process which is influenced by writer (personal backgrounds and characteristics) and task-specific factors. Drawing upon its findings, the study concludes by giving theoretical and pedagogical implication for teachers in EFL/ESL context.