LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 26, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Learning http://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/LLT Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 153 STUDENT’S PERCEIVED CONFIDENCE IN WRITING PUBLISHABLE ARTICLES Mariana Sri Purwanti 1 and Fidelis Chosa Kastuhandani 2 1,2Universitas Sanata Dharma, Indonesia marianamari7524@gmail.com1 and chosakh@usd.ac.id2 correspondence: chosakh@usd.ac.id https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v26i1.5407 received 22 November 2022; accepted 24 March 2023 Abstract There has been an increasing demand for undergraduate students to do their scholarly research and publish the finding in the form of articles in their final year of study. The importance of writing publishable articles is a repeated and step-by- step process to maintain self-confidence in writing articles. In other words, many students struggle to publish their articles because the rate of successful articles can be affected by the common mistake made. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to find how undergraduate students perceived confidence in writing publishable articles since they may still have difficulties in writing articles. The researcher used thematic data analysis to summarize data points. This study applied criterion-based sampling as a technique to determine the sample. The total number of participants was 8 students. This study focused on English Language Education Study Program (ELESP) students in semester 8 at Sanata Dharma University who once joined a conference and published their articles. Data were collected from interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), and document analysis. The findings showed that most ELESP students faced some challenges in writing articles. The challenges experienced frequently by students were the use of grammar and vocabulary. Nonetheless, the results showed that ELESP students utilized some online tools and benefited from feedback from other parties to increase their confidence in writing articles. Keywords: academic writing, confidence, perception Introduction Writing is an important thing not only for education but also for other fields. In the education field, students can achieve some beneficial things through writing like mastering the English Language and other disciplines. For EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students who study at university, doing scholarly research and publishing the findings in the form of articles are some of the most important academic activities. In addition, research has also become an important tool for human progress. The development of this 21st century is oriented in research toward a better life to achieve sustained growth (Magulod et al., 2020). Writing a publishable article needs a repeated and step-by-step process accompanied by evaluation because mailto:marianamari7524@gmail.com mailto:chosakh@usd.ac.id mailto:chosakh@usd.ac.id https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v26i1.5407 LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 154 every success can happen because of self-confidence if the students analyze it very accurately. It has been a major part of research in various fields (Alam et al., 2021). Researchers who prepare manuscripts appropriately will be helped by outlining the structure of the research. The key to success in a writing publishable article is starting from the paper’s form (Magulod et al., 2020). This study has two research questions; the first question is about students’ perceived confidence in writing publishable articles and the second is about how ELESP students solve the perceived challenges in writing publishable articles. These two research questions are answered by self-editing theory. Self-editing is also called an initiated activity for students because it provides a critical step in reviewing their writing (Li & Hegelheimer, 2013). In the process of writing an article, sometimes students commit some errors and therefore they do cross-check to convince themselves that their writing is correct. According to Novianti (2017), the main challenges that are faced by EFL students are implementing grammar in writing articles including subject-verb agreement and combining some sentences to make a good paragraph. In this case, students seek solutions by using their initiative to find strategies to correct errors. Once the students do self-editing in writing articles with positive results, they feel confident with the result of their articles because it has been through various processes. Despite the importance of writing publishable articles for EFL students in the final year of study, writing an article has still become an onerous skill for them. According to Magulod et al. (2020), the rate of successful articles can be affected by the common mistakes made by the researchers such as referencing, length of the pages, the structure of the research, language structure, readability, lack of focus, and plagiarism. Therefore, many students struggle to publish their articles. Some common problems, such as some mistakes in the article standards, troubles with the language, and limitedness, were encountered in the publication (Magulod et al., 2020). The previous studies agreed that the importance of writing publishable articles is a repeated and step-by-step process to maintain self-confidence. However, none of the preceding studies have gone into further depth on the specific process undergraduate students take to retain their self-confidence in writing publishable articles. To bridge this gap, this study addresses ELESP students’ perceived confidence in writing publishable articles at Sanata Dharma University since they may still have difficulties in writing a well-prepared article that will be published and read by the readers. Method This study focused on the EFL students’ perceptions of writing publishable articles. According to Kognisi et al. (2021), perception is the way someone evaluates something “Perception produces the views of something” (p.10). This study had two research questions; the first question is about students’ confidence in writing publishable articles and the second is about how ELESP students solve their perceived challenges in writing publishable articles. In the process of writing an article, sometimes students commit some errors and therefore they do cross-check to convince themselves that their writings are correct. In this case, the utilization of various digital tools shows the following quality indicators of the academic paper, namely: Grammar quality, similarity index, and readability index (Magulod et al., 2020). According to Muchtar (2021), grammar, as a component of language, LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 155 provides a function to construct sentences and regulate the use of language. In other words, grammar quality is essential for successful academic writing because it allows the writer to express ideas accurately, clearly, and correctly. In addition, the term "readability" was used in the 1920s to indicate the ability in reading a text. In the 1980s, educators applied the readability criterion to measure the complexity of textbooks. The educators developed a way to anticipate the difficulty level of a text by using vocabulary issues and sentence length (Khairova et al., 2019). Meanwhile, the similarity index means the percentage of text in a published manuscript that duplicates text in a repository (Kodandarama et al., 2020). Hence to get the percentage of similarity and readability index, the researcher implements the different online tools and necessary revisions. Therefore, the use of grammar and plagiarism checkers can provide a better- quality paper. An online grammar checker can be efficient and effective for improving grammar accuracy. Grammar processing programs with spelling and grammar checkers have existed since the mid-80s (Cavaleri & Dianati, 2016). In writing an academic paper, it is easy to get a lot of resources and cheat from them without citing. Therefore, the use of a plagiarism checker is to save the copyrights from violation for the publishers, but some publishers who are using some anti- plagiarism soft-wares over the internet need more effort to detect the plagiarism or cannot be detected at all (Nabee et al., 2020). In addition, this study was designed to explore students’ perception of writing publishable articles by applying the qualitative descriptive study. Thus, the study's type was descriptive, because the data were not enumerative, but rather oral and written words (Nugrahanto & Hartono, 2020). According to Yusuf et al. (2021), qualitative research is defined as a study that focused on understanding social phenomena from the perspective of the participants. It was useful for researchers to know the who, what, where, and how (Hunter et al., 2019). The data for the research were collected from eight undergraduate students who joined Undergraduate Conference 2021 by utilizing criterion-based sampling, to get qualified candidates in gathering the data (Turner, 2010). The researchers chose these 8 students because they had the qualifications: the students in semester 8; the students who joined a conference “Undergraduate Conference 2021”; the students’ papers that were accepted for presentation and publication. In collecting the data, there were some data gathering techniques for collecting the data in this study such as document analysis, Interviews, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). According to Bowen (2009), reviewing information gathered using various methods, is effective in helping across the data and reducing the influence of any biases that may occur in a study. As a kind of triangulation, the document method is commonly used in collaboration with another qualitative research method for gathering the data. In this study, the researchers collected the data from the reflections of the respondents via an online platform Google Forms. The respondents were expected to answer a brief question about the process of writing an article in at least one paragraph. The researchers used a semi-structured interview as the second data-gathering technique. According to Adams (2015), a semi-structured interview is simple and descriptive. The researchers used open- ended questions because they allowed the respondent to express their ideas on a topic and seem to be effective in describing attitudes, beliefs, and actions. As a result, its available responses become limitless. The researchers also used the LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 156 interview blueprint in order to design questions based on the study purposes. After conducting individual interviews, the researchers gathered data through Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to discuss a topic in the study together and see the other perceptions. According to Schulze et al. (2022), focus groups are used to acquire qualitative data. They entail a concentrated conversation among persons who are knowledgeable about the issue of interest. To obtain people’s interpretations, opinions, and perspectives, participants communicate their ideas and concerns in their language. Then, the researchers decided further the themes were emerging after the process of data analysis is already done. This study used the thematic data analysis technique. Thematic analysis is a technique for analyzing or describing qualitative data that requires seeking throughout a data set to identify, analyze, and report Kiger & Vaprio (2020). The thematic analysis focuses on individuals’ meanings and experiences to gain insights into reality (Kiger & Varpio, 2020). Hence, the researchers also utilized the application Nvivo 12 as a tool to analyze the data. In this case, the researchers used a type of code in NVIVO called Theme Node, to code the data. According to Allsop et al. (2022), coding means the process of assigning the codes to participant words for classification and identification. There are two essential parameters in Nvivo 12 such as references and files. References themselves mean the specific meaning is referred to. Meanwhile, files mean a database record from a single person or source, with each authoritative source recorded in a distinct file (Campbell, 2020). In this study, the researchers used passages as the alternate descriptions for references and two alternate descriptions for files like interviewees and documents. Findings and Discussion This section aims to discuss the results of the data and the findings of this study that have been conducted on 8 ELESP students at Sanata Dharma University by using the qualitative method. The data was obtained through interviews, document analysis, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). This section discussed further the themes emerging after the process of data analysis is already done: 1) the understanding of writing an article, 2) the decision-making to solve problems, 3) the positive impact of online tools, 4) the confidence in self-worth The understanding of writing an article Several ELESP students in their final semester at Sanata Dharma University had experience in writing an article. As explained in Chapter 3, most ELESP students who participated in this study had some experience in joining several conferences, especially Undergraduate Conferences 2021. As some respondents pointed out: I joined UC 2021 at Sanata Darma University and ELESP Conference 2021 at Brawijaya University. (Participant 2, AIS) I joined UC 2021. (Participant 3, KFK) I joined two conferences such as LLTC 2021 and UC 2021 as a presenter. (Participant 8, VDA) LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 157 Some ELESP students were not only joining one conference. They also joined other conferences like ELESP Conference 2021 and LLTC 2021. Moreover, ELESP students in the final semester should have at least one article they wrote. Before starting to write an article, ELESP students drafted plans as the expectation in writing an article. There were certain things that ELESP students seemed to do in planning the study: I decided on a topic that interested in. Then, I decided on the target to collect the data. I also made some research questions. After I finished making those research questions, I discussed them with my lecturer. (Participant 6, PYVL) First I found out what I was interested in; education, literature, or linguistic field. Then I decided on the topic that will be discussed. I collected a lot of references that could strengthen my arguments. After I found the topic, I decided on the respondents and observed the respondents in order to gain the data accurately. (Participant 2, KFK) My article was started by looking at the topic that appealed to me. I also searched and read a lot of literature related to my topic. I compared some of those references; some aspects I compared were the research purposes and the research questions. After reading and comparing several references, I thought of research questions that I could develop and had not discussed in previous studies. (Participant 2, AIS) It was evident that ELESP students seemed to do certain things in planning the study such as determining the topic, reading the literature, and deciding the target. After ELESP students expected their articles, ELESP students started to write the article. According to Magulod et al. (2020), in writing publishable articles, the researchers should follow a format called IMRAD (Introduction, Method, Result, and Discussion). In this case, ELESP students understood the steps in writing an article: There were some steps on how to write an article such as research background, theoretical framework, methodology, result and discussion, and conclusion. (Participant 3, KFK) Based on the statement above, it was evident that ELESP students knew the steps and processes of how to write an article properly. Not only that, but some ELESP students also had experience in joining conferences to present and publish the result of their articles. The decision-making to solve problems This section examined the ways that ELESP students identified as problem- solving and supporting their academic papers and the difficulties of writing academic papers. It found that ELESP students experienced problems with grammar. The issue of grammar was identified as problematic for ELESP students who participated in the study. On many occasions these students found that they seemed to be confused about the correct use of grammar in their articles: LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 158 I was not really sure about my grammar because I didn’t quite understand some parts of grammar. (Participant 7, VRADA) The grammar that I used was different from the grammar used to write an article. I meant that I was still confused about whether I used formal or informal grammar. (Participant 6, PYVL) I used inappropriate grammar and spelling in my article. That’s all my challenges in writing a article at that moment. (Participant 2, AIS) On the other hand, there were also students in the study who expressed confusion about how to elaborate their sentences using the correct tenses. According to Cavaleri & Dianati (2016), grammatical accuracy can help researchers to express ideas clearly, and accurately. However, sometimes undergraduate students are still struggling to develop their papers and their linguistic choices may not always be accurate Cavaleri & Dianati (2016). In this case, students may have difficulties with common grammatical errors like not putting the main verb in each sentence, lack of pronoun agreement, ambiguous use of pronouns, punctuation, and inconsistent use of tenses Cavaleri & Dianati (2016). From ELESP students’ experiences, it was found that: I think at that time I had trouble with my tenses. In this case, I often forgot to add (s/es) in the last verb when I was using the present tense. (Participant 3, KFK) I was still confused with my tenses if I used past tense then I continued to use the present tense. Sometimes, I also repeated my words many times. (Participant 5, NGP) I wrote with the wrong tenses like I wrote a sentence using the present tense then suddenly I used past tense in the next sentence. (Participant 7, VRADA) I often didn’t put the punctuation in the right way because my sentences were very long. (Participant 2, AIS) There were some grammatical errors. I thought the most grammatical errors that happened in my article where I made some inconsistent sentences, the use of the inappropriate subject-verb agreement, the use of inappropriate verbs, and the use of inappropriate prepositions. (Participant 5, MAB) Apart from grammar, ELESP students also experienced difficulties in vocabulary. They found it necessary to enrich their vocabulary because they sometimes had difficulty deciding the appropriate words to complete the sentence they wrote. I repeated words many times in my sentences. Hmmm, I think I should enrich my vocabulary too. (Participant 5, NGP) LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 159 I faced difficulties in creating the title because I often didn’t put the appropriate words in the title so I needed to revise it many times. (Particiant 6, PYVL) Mostly, it wasn’t good if we used the same words in our sentences, right! However, sometimes I did it so I overcame this problem by looking for the other words in Thesaurus. (Participant 8, VDA) This finding appeared to indicate that ELESP students found some kinds of unpredictable obstacles and challenges in their writing processes. In this case, writing an article is a complicated process. Al-Badi (2015) states that writing an academic paper requires “careful thought, discipline, and concentration”. On the other hand, ELESP students pointed out some ways to cope with the challenges of writing an article. Some ELESP students stated that they appreciated comments as they knew what was correct and what needed to be improved. I also needed feedback from other researcherss or my adviser in order to overcome the problem. (Participant 2, AIS) I also had a problem tabulating the data but my adviser helped me to solve the problem. He gave me some feedback. (Participant 1, ABB) I conducted my research in the group so I would find the solution by discussing together with my group members. (Participant 7, VRADA) I was utilizing an online tool Grammarly and asked for feedback from someone who has good knowledge of grammar. (Participant 4, MAB) I did cross-check with my adviser I meant I asked for his feedback to know whether my context was correct or not. (Participant 3, KFK) And if there were no grammatical errors, I would make sure my grammar again through peer-reviewed with my friend who had good skills in writing. I also asked my adviser to give me his feedback according to my writing. Therefore, I needed feedback from other parties in order to make sure that I had the right sentence structure or not like from my adviser or maybe my friend. Accordingly, I could solve my problems and face challenges in writing an article. (Participant 6, PYVL) ELESP students in the study saw an improvement from when they found some comments and suggestions from any parties like their adviser, friend, and relative. According to Lee & Schallert (2008), students do peer feedback from experts or researchers in the university with publications in reputable articles to provide feedback for the improvement of the articles. The feedback itself becomes a popular way to guide students, especially those who learn the language for improving their writing. This finding appeared to indicate that ELESP students had some difficulties in writing an article like grammar and vocabulary. In this case, ELESP students not LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 160 only relied on their writing skills but also solved the problems from peer-reviewed. Based on the feedback, they could pick the appropriate action to solve the problems that happened during writing an article. The positive impact of online tools According to Magulod et al. (2020), the utilization of various digital tools shows the following quality indicators of the academic paper, namely: grammar quality, similarity index, and readability index. ELESP students in the study further expressed that they were not only relying on their ability and others’ feedback but also utilizing online tools to support their article: The first reason I used those apps was efficiency. Those apps were useful to check my article because they gave corrections quickly. (Participant 2, AIS) Honestly, I corrected my grammar efficiently by using online tools because they marked grammatical errors automatically. I thought those online tools were trustworthy. Actually, I saw the review from the user first to see whether those online tools were trustworthy or not. Then, I decided either used those online tools or another one. (Participant 3, KFK) I was sure with my grammar but not 100%. I often rechecked my writing and if there were something wrong then I would fix it directly. I also used some online tools to help me check my writing. (Participant 5, NGP) The reason was that I needed those apps and webs, I felt like I was not really confident with my ability. (Participant 1, ABB) The use of online tools was beneficial to ensure the quality of an article and enhance the confidence of the researchers to submit the article. It was shown from three instruments: interview, focus group discussion, and document analysis. ELESP students confirmed that the use of online tools was not only for solving problems but also for increasing their confidence in writing an article. In addition, there was a large amount of technology that surrounds scholarly activity. In this case, there were several tools that ELESP students used a lot such as Google Docs, Google Scholar, Grammarly, and Turnitin. Google Docs Most ELESP Students in the study, who found difficulties in writing an article with appropriate words and correct grammar, confirmed that they used Google Docs to facilitate them in writing. It automatically suggested the appropriate word. Students didn’t need to take time in reading the whole text to identify the grammatical errors. They simply needed to find the underlines which indicated that the word or sentence was incompatible. As the following quotation showed: I used Google Docs to write down my article. It provided suggestions if I used inappropriate words or incorrect grammar. (Participant 8, VDA) LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 161 Actually, I put my text into Google Docs to make sure whether there was a grammatical error or not. In other words, I used Google Docs to check my grammar automatically so if there were any grammatical errors, they would be highlighted or underlined. (Participant 7, VRADA) I used the tool Google Docs to check my grammar so I thought I had 80% confidence in my writing. (Participant 3, KFK) Google Scholar To find the literature, ELESP students also used some websites or platforms. Most ELESP students in the study collected the literature from the online tool Google Scholar. According to Magulod et al. (2020), the reason why students used Google Scholar was that it was an online platform for scholarly literature that was free to use. It had many kinds of literature including articles, theses, abstracts, books, and websites. This type of platform provided intellectual articles from all over the world. Google Scholar also efficiently examined publications, citations, and authors. It tracked down the original links to the articles. It also provided the advantage of following up with the latest breakthroughs in many study areas. From the ELESP students’ experiences in the study, it was found that: I got the references from some online tools like ERIC and Google Scholar but mostly I used ERIC to obtain the references. (Participant 2, AIS) When I was in semester 5, I had an opportunity to learn how to quote and reference. As I know, Google Scholar also provided the reference in the form APA style so I just copied then pasted it to my article. (Participant 4, MAB) There were some websites that I used like Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and Scribd.id. (Participant 1, ABB) I collected the literature from Google Scholar and some books from the library. (Participant 8, VDA) Grammarly Along with many other websites and platforms, Grammarly was designed to check submission write-ups. According to Magulod et al. (2020), this platform automatically scanned errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, word choice, and capitalization. It also provided the underline that suggested auto-corrections for some grammar issues. Based on the advantages of Grammarly, ELESP students in the study seemed to utilize an online tool Grammarly in writing an article: I was sure with my writing because at that time I also utilized Grammarly to ensure my grammar and clarity. I quite believed in Grammarly, as well as my writing skills. So I was confident in my writing if I felt I’d written it correctly and there was no red line in my writing. Honestly, I was quite sensitive when it came to grammar if there was a grammatical error. I would make sure again my grammar by myself so I was quite confident with that. (Participant 3, AIS) LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 162 I felt like I was not really mastering my writing skills. I meant that my grammar was not really good. Therefore, I utilized on online tool Grammarly in writing my article. (Participant 4, MAB) I checked my grammar by using both Grammarly and Google Docs. Sometimes, I also checked it manually. (Participant 3, KFK) Of course, I used an online tool Grammarly to help me check errors in grammar then I fixed them manually. (Participant 6, PYVL) Several ELESP students were optimistic about using Grammarly in writing their articles. Most of them used Grammarly to detect grammatical errors in their article. They felt confident in their writing if the result of Grammarly indicated no grammatical errors. Furthermore, they not only used Grammarly to check their writing but they also rechecked it manually after they had already checked through Grammarly. Turnitin The majority of ELESP students in the study utilized computer software- based detection to check their similarity index, instead of manual detection. From a wide variety of platforms, there was one tool that ELESP students used extensively to check plagiarism. Based on the data gathering, most ELESP students in the study used Turnitin as a plagiarism scanner in writing their articles: I used Turnitin to check the similarity index. (Participant 3, AIS) I usually used Turnitin to check my similarity index. I also used a web SEO Magnifier but I thought Turnitin was more trustworthy than SEO Magnifier to check plagiarism. (Participant 3, KFK) I thought Turnitin was the best tool because it could be used to check plagiarism effectively. (Participant 4, MAB) I also used both applications Mendeley and Turnitin to make sure that I didn’t plagiarize the text. (Participant 8, VDA) Some ELESP students also confirmed the view that they used some online tools other than Turnitin like Seo Magnifier and Mendeley. ELESP students used those online tools to prevent plagiarism with each function of them. According to Medaille et al. (2021), Mendeley as a citation management software could be used to arrange the sources. In general, many students put citations besides paraphrased texts then they could simply make references and cite a text. Meanwhile, Turnitin and Seo Magnifier was equally plagiarism scanner. According to Magulod et al. (2020), the percentage of the similarity index was calculated using a plagiarism scanner. In this section, the researchers found that ELESP students utilized some online tools to check their writing and overcome some difficulties. Most of them stated that the use of online tools was very effective in helping them to write an LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 163 article. Additionally, the use of online tools also increased their confidence in writing an article. There were several online tools that ELESP students frequently used like Google Docs, Google Scholar, Grammarly, and Turnitin. Those online tools were mostly used to check their grammar and similarity index. Meanwhile, they used Google Scholar to find the relevant literature. Confidence in self-worth Most ELESP students in the study were optimistic about their articles. In this case, ELESP students had their way on how they improved their writing accordingly. They would be sure of their writing when they were already finished reviewing their writing through self-editing. According to Li & Hegelheimer (2013), self-editing was also called an initiated activity for students because it provided a critical step in reviewing their writing. Such ELESP students who felt confident with the result of their articles pointed out: I was really confident with the result of my article because I thought it was like a reward for me. I felt like I could finish something complicated. In my opinion, I had finished my article with great difficulty so I was confident with it even in my paper there was a shortage. (Participant 3, KFK) After I made my paper, I felt like I was more organized because in writing a article I should have made an outline, introduction, discussion and result, and conclusion. In other words, I was a type who worked something to get to the point but in writing papers I had to follow requirements. I also felt confident with my article, if I practiced more and more. I felt like it was not as difficult as it first seemed. (Participant 1, ABB) I was confident in my ability in writing articles. However, I thought there was another thing that I could improve later. (Participant 8, VDA) The experience illustrated that ELESP students in the study had accomplished something complicated with their efforts such as overcoming the difficulties in writing an article. The finding confirmed Razack et al. (2021) claimed that writing confidence was the belief in oneself and writing skills. It could refer to how individuals feel about themselves, their efforts, and their skills. Some ELESP students found that they gained a lot of knowledge about how to write an article properly. It seemed that they were brave enough to try new things and not be afraid to do anything wrong. Yet there were also ELESP students who were hesitant about the results of their articles. According to Wells (2020), many students experienced writing- related anxiety. Sometimes, they were anxious about work overload, a due date, the content, research, grammar, paraphrasing, and citation. It could be negative thinking for the writers in capturing ideas and composing. On the other hand, some ELESP students in the study further explained that they lacked confidence in their ability to write an article: Not really, I was writing and presenting an article in the conference then I felt accomplished but it didn’t make me felt like more confident with my writing LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 164 skills. I thought maybe it could be the length of the paper was only 6-7 pages. (Participant 2, AIS) I was not sure about my ability in writing an article because I faced many problems in the process of writing my article. (Participant 7, VRADA) I was not really confident with my article because the writing was not as simple as I imagined. I realized that good writing needed consistency in reading but realized that I was lazy. (Participant 4, MAB) There were also students in the study who claimed that they had a lack of self- motivation in writing an article. ELESP students in the study discovered that they needed to read widely to comprehend and understand more complicated academic literature. However, they struggled with self-motivation which led them to lack confidence in the result of their articles. This section briefly explained ELESP students’ confidence in their ability in writing an article. Most of them were confident with the result of their articles. They had written an article according to the guideline. Though there were some difficulties they could overcome the problems. They also benefited greatly from writing an article. However, not all ELESP students felt confident about their articles, some students had doubts about their articles because they were unsure of their ability in writing and they lacked the motivation to read a lot of literature. Conclusion This study was presented to find out ELESP students’ perceptions of their confidence in writing articles. There were two research questions. The first question formulation was about how ELESP students perceive their confidence in writing publishable articles. Based on the results of the study, most ELESP students in the study were confident in writing articles. They had written an article before and therefore they knew the steps in writing an article. In joining a conference, ELESP students in the study needed to present and publish their articles. Accordingly, they must have followed the requirements for writing publishable articles. Most of them found that they became convinced at some point to finish something complicated in their ability in writing. They benefited greatly from writing articles. However, some ELESP students in the study also doubted their ability in writing and therefore they were not writing articles maximally. Apart from recognizing the steps in writing an article, they also expected some difficulties they would face during writing an article. Based on the results, ELESP students in the study found some difficulties in writing an article like the use of correct grammar and word choices. Most ELESP students had difficulties with tenses during writing an article. They were confused about the use of present and past tenses in a paragraph. Sometimes, they also wrote a sentence with inappropriate subject-verb agreements, inappropriate verbs, and inappropriate prepositions. Meanwhile, ELESP students in the study always repeated a word in some sentences during writing an article, and therefore they struggled with the use of appropriate words. Accordingly, they felt that they should have enriched their vocabulary. LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 23, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 153-167 165 In addition, the next findings of the second question formulation about how ELESP students solve those difficulties in writing publishable articles showed that most of the students benefited from peer feedback and utilized some online tools in writing articles. ELESP students in the study stated that they could divide the appropriate action based on the feedback that they found to solve the challenges in writing articles. Furthermore, it also improved their articles and writing skills. Meanwhile, ELESP students also utilized some online tools to support them in writing articles. 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