Thesis and Dissertation Writing in a Second Language: a handbook for Supervisors

The particular challenges of qualitative research
There is evidence to suggest that the second-language student may avoid
doing and writing about qualitative research because of the perceived linguis-
tic challenges involved. Belcher and Hirvela (2005: 188) note having
observed second-language students being repeatedly discouraged, both by
their peers and by their academic faculty, from ‘taking the qualitative route’.
In a study of the issues faced by Hong Kong scholars writing for publication,
Flowerdew (1999: 257) reported the perception of several of his interviewees
that non-native speakers of English are better suited to writing in the more