Why It Took so Long to Complete Undergraduate Thesis at English Department: Students' and Lecturers' Voices

摘要

In this study, we seek to explore issues surrounding thesis writing process and completion among English department students. It has been years that students in our department spend relatively longer in completing bachelor thesis. It takes them minimum two semesters or even more to complete their thesis. On average, most students spend four and half years to five years to finish their study. One of the biggest hurdles is the difficulty to complete thesis within short time. Writing thesis within short period of time is very demanding for students and not many of them can do that. With a case study approach, we interviewed eleven lecturers and eight students to get true account on both sides on what make thesis writing is so difficult and time-consuming project. The results of semi-structured interview reveal very diverse perspective on that issue. However, the recurring themes that unite both parties among others are: insufficient planning, bad time management, low proficiency of English, low motivation and self-discipline, involved in other activity besides thesis writing, insufficient knowledge for doing research, and student-supervisor relationship.