Exploring the capacity of Nigerian undergraduates in academic writing

Abstract

The study examines the capacity of Nigerian undergraduates in academic writing and its attendant impact on their capability to be future scholarly publishers of research findings. It explores the factors that hinder students from engaging in academic writing such as their degree of motivation, ability to research and apply knowledge across several contexts of perception on academic writing, self-efficacy and ability to write. It focuses on finding out the level at which students are versed in academic writing, possible ways of motivating undergraduates to be involved in academic writing in order to strengthen their interest to become scholarly publishers of research findings that will expand the frontiers of knowledge. Four research questions were raised to guide the study. A purposive sampling technique was adopted to select 500 respondents across tertiary institutions in Nigeria through a self-structured questionnaire titled ETCOUIAW with the co-efficient alpha level of .75. A 4-point likert scale was used to elicit data from the respondents. The findings revealed that students are not fully aware of international standards in academic writing. Few of the students can discern academic articles. However, most students who have once engaged in academic writing do not bother to continue their research work after a rigorous peer review which is very likely based on their level of perception, literacy, degree of motivation and self-efficacy. It is therefore recommended that students should be motivated to attend conferences, workshops, seminars on academic writing as well as network with other academia with the help of improving interest in research exercise, critical and analytical thinking; intellectual development; good communication and writing skills and for the benefit of the society at large.

Keywords: Academic writing* Undergraduates* Research* Peer review* Tertiary institutions