Navigating Rhetorical Challenges: Indonesian EFL Master’s Students Publishing in Sinta 2–Indexed Journals

Abstract

Publishing research articles in English poses unique rhetorical challenges for non-native English-speaking scholars, yet little is known about how Indonesian EFL Master’s students navigate these demands when converting theses into articles for nationally accredited journals. This qualitative exploratory–interpretive study examines four Indonesian EFL Master’s students who successfully published thesis-derived work in Sinta 2–indexed journals, focusing on their rhetorical struggles, cultural and institutional contexts, identity shifts, and adaptive strategies. Data were collected via 65–85 minute semi-structured interviews conducted in Indonesian, and analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings show the introduction section is the primary bottleneck—especially crafting explicit research gaps and contribution claims—while grammar was perceived as far more manageable than argument structure, critical synthesis, and appropriate hedging. Tensions between Indonesian norms of indirectness and modesty and Anglo-American academic conventions of explicit positioning further complicated writing. The publication process also shifted participants’ identities from “deficient learners” to legitimate knowledge producers. Key supports included supervisory mentoring, peer discussion, and critical use of writing tools. Implications include calls for genre-based rhetorical instruction, structured thesis-to-article training, and institutionalized writing communities in Indonesian EFL graduate programs.