Abstract

Doctoral dissertation writing and defending to complete the doctorate degree program is a true learning experience; an arduous mission, which entails knowledge of academic writing and confidence for dissertation defence to a satisfactory level. In the present research, the researchers have made an effort to divulge the foremost challenges faced by those ESL scholars, who had completed their degree in Doctor of Philosophy. By employing the survey technique, an online questionnaire containing four open-ended questions was sent to fifty research contributors from both genders via Email and WhatsApp for data collection. The data was analyzed by employing frequency and thematic approaches and presented in tables. The findings of the contemporary study explored that Pakistani ESL doctorate scholars faced multifarious challenges while writing and defending doctoral dissertations. The findings also explored solutions to overcome these challenges in the future, which makes it valuable research work for scholars and researchers in the future.

Key Words

Academic writing, Doctoral degree program, Dissertation writing, Dissertation Defence, ESL scholars, Challenges & Solutions

Introduction

English is an international language spoken and written everywhere in this global world. In the modern age, it is essential to be talented in the English language to get the best opportunities for success; for this purpose, many people learn the English language to secure their future careers. English language is taught all around the world and EFL/ESL students are learning English as a none native language in none English-speaking states. Haydn & Stephen (2014) stated that in none native countries several people attempt to take advantage of the chance and started learning the English language; but English language learning is not an easy task, therefore, many people give up their struggle to acquire English language knowledge. English language encompasses four skills, among these four linguistic skills speaking and writing are known as productive skills because their function is to produce language; while reading and listening are recognized as receptive skills (Ahmad, Iqbal, & Rao, 2023). To get mastery of writing and speaking skill is very problematic because these both are tough skills among the four skills of language and entails durable corporeal and intellectual strength. In the writing procedure writer essentially require specific features such as command of diction, syntax, and critical thinking, while in speaking the speaker needs huge vocabulary, practice and confidence to transport his ideology to the reader and listener. Bracewell (2020) stated that writing is the utmost challenging and intricate among the cognitive events by humans. Moreover, ESL students face difficulties in writing skills. A research project which is started by a graduate student under the guidance of a supervisor to fulfil the requirement of completing a degree is called the thesis, while a dissertation is a lengthy written work, particularly by doctorate scholars to get their doctor of philosophy degrees on the completion of their academic program. ESL scholars face various kinds of difficulties and complications while writing and defending doctoral dissertations. Pakistan is a country located in the South Asian region; English is used there as a second language, and to accomplish a postgraduate doctorate degree program there is the requirement to write and defend the dissertation. It is very difficult for ESL doctorate scholars to transport their ideology through writing and speaking; due to this doctoral dissertation has become an unapproachable part for doctor of philosophy candidates. Lacking outstanding writing and speaking skill, it will probably become impossible for ESL doctorate scholars to write and defend doctoral dissertations. Indeed, the maximum causes in which doctor of philosophy candidates are seen struggling in writings developed from academic writing styles. For dissertation defence, ESL doctorate scholars must need to advance their vocabulary and English-speaking power, which is only possible through knowledge and practice. The results of current research will prove helpful for ESL scholars in overcoming these challenges frequently faced in doctoral dissertation writing and defence.




Statement of the Problem

Badreddine (2019), classified academic writing in seven types, essay, research paper, research article, dissertation, thesis, technical report, and research project. All these types have their individual features and resolutions, but in the current research the main concentration of the researchers is merely on doctoral dissertation writing and defense; these are the midpoints in the present study. The doctoral dissertation is the high point of all projects which is conducted by a doctor of philosophy scholars while completing their doctoral degree program. Therefore, doctorate scholars must understand the fundamental concepts of doctoral dissertation writing and defending, which is an ideological research work contested with reasonable logic. In Pakistan ESL doctorate candidates frequently face many challenges in writing and defending their dissertations. The researchers noted these problems and decided to conduct research on this topic, which will prove beneficial for Pakistani doctorate degree candidates. The purpose of the current study is to accomplish the aims given below in the research questions.




Research Questions 

1. What are the challenges that are faced in doctoral dissertation writing and defence?

2. What are the possible solutions to the challenges in doctoral dissertation writing and defence?




Significance of the Study 

According to the statement of Davis & Parker, (2000), the prime obligation of a doctorate scholar is to organize a dissertation plan. Supervisors and department faculty can guide but the scholar must take responsibility to make possible this herculean journey. In countries where English is used as a second language scholars face many challenges in writing and defending a thesis/dissertation. Keeping in mind this point, the researchers conducted this significant research study, which will prove valuable for ESL educators, scholars, and researchers. Firstly, the results of this research study will probably contribute to ESL instructors in overcoming future complications from superintendents and will provide proper support to minimalize the problems, as a result, the relationship between supervisor and supervisee will be more ideal. Secondly, the current study will provide ideas and views to doctorate scholars about their difficulties and complications in dissertation writing and defence. The results of this study will provide remarkable advantages to doctoral scholars and will support them to be equipped for the forthcoming challenges which they will probably face in dissertation writing and defence. Thirdly, the results of the research study will aware the researchers in future by providing information about the problems faced by doctorate scholars in dissertation writing and defence. Lastly, for the contributors, this research study is a medium to share their viewpoints about doctoral dissertation writing and defending challenges.




Limitations of the Research

The newfangled research study has some limitations, as the study was conducted only by exploring the challenges and solutions faced by Pakistani ESL doctorate scholars in dissertation writing and defence. This study can be expanded to other types of academic writing as research papers, research articles, research reports, thesis writing, research project etc., but this is limited to doctoral dissertation writing and defending. Moreover, the research is limited only to one department or faculty scholars, as it was conducted on ESL scholars at the postgraduate level; it can also be conducted on the scholars of other educational departments/faculties and levels. The present research study is also limited to two research questions, the questions can be increased. The questionnaire was also limited only to four open-ended questions, lacking close-ended questions. The population and sample size are also limited to fifty but can be enlarged. In spite of all these limitations the study is worthy and best effort to fill the gaps left in the previous researches by the preceding researchers.




Research Gap

This ultra-modern research work is an exertion

 to fill the gap left by Dwihandini et al (2013) and Lestari (2020) conducted their research on undergraduates’ challenges in thesis writing and explored three types of challenges, as psychological, sociocultural, and linguistic factors, but the present research was conducted on veteran PhD scholars and explored more challenges and also provide solutions of these challenges. The present study also fills the gap left by Divsar, (2018) while discovering the Iranian EFL PhD scholars’ challenges in dissertation writing selected thirty PhD scholars’ sample size, and Puspita (2021) explored students’ complications in thesis writing, by using forty-nine students sample size and displayed three issues personality, sociocultural linguistic issues. But in the present study, researchers selected fifty participants as a sample size which is bigger than the sample sizes of previous researchers. The present research study explored the challenges and their solutions in doctoral dissertation writing and defense which were never explored in earlier conducted research studies.

Literature Review

Knopf, (2006), stated that literature review estimates and summarizes the writing form related to an exact theme. Ahmad, Maitlo, & Rao, (2022) stated that understanding history is the main goal of literature review. From these statements, we can guesstimate the importance of a literature review. In the journey of completing doctoral dissertations doctorate scholars encounter many challenges (Tapia & Stewart, 2022). These challenges consist of institutional, instructional, personal, and social issues (Cotterall, 2011). The present research study, this part covers, academic writing, components of academic writing, categories of academic writing, the doctoral degree program called “Doctor of Philosophy”, challenges in dissertation writing, challenges in dissertation defence, and some previous studies related to the present research theme.







Components and Categories of Academic Writing

Writing is a very significant part of study on all educational levels, but at the university level scholars must advance their writing competency; for this purpose, they need to comprehend the diverse categories of academic writing. Writing in a formal way is generally termed academic writing which is widely used in academic assignments and scholarly publications; therefore, students ought to use a fairly formal style, by sidestepping unplanned and informal language. While writing in the formal style students must attempt to use technical language, but writing technically entails huge vocabulary. Therefore, students need to use technical terms carefully, because frequently similar term has a dissimilar denotation in other disciplines, for instance, discourse is a technical term employed in many disciplines with dissimilar connotations.

According to the statement of Jacob (2002), there are five components of academic writing. Further, he distinguished these five components as content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics; which are considered five components of academic writing. Initially, content must be clearly written because a comprehensible message can be conveyed to the reader. Additionally, the author should organize his concepts in chronological order. Moreover, by using suitable vocabulary message can be transported to the reader in the best way. Furthermore, language usage represents the rules of grammar which is a challenging element in academic writing and deals with the use of verbs, nouns, sentence structure etc. Lastly, mechanics are the usage of capitalization, punctuation and spelling; which aids the reader in easily comprehending the message, while the misusage of these features will probably cause mistakes and delusions. 

To present the five "Components of Academic Writing” more clearly, the researchers draw a shape blew, the idea of presenting components in this way was taken from Sitko's (1998) "Model for Metacognition".

Figure 1



Writing is important creation in anthropological antiquity which is offering everlasting records of opinions, state of mind and ideologies etc. and permits us to share messages with contemporary and future generations (Ahmad, Shahid & Farhat, 2023). There are seven categories of writing, named essays writing, research papers, research articles, thesis, technical reports, research projects, and doctoral dissertations (Badreddine, 2019). A lengthy written piece of work containing numerous passages is called an essay (Oshima & Hogue, 2000). An essay is written from the writer's viewpoint and contains organized parts, an introduction, a body, and a conclusion (Sara, 2019). Research papers express information and concepts effectively (Bitchener et al, 2017). The research paper is an information product which seeks analysis of a specific topic directed by somebody; it involves procedures and follows specific requirements. Research article studies the result of specific research and determines its relevance to the subject, and published through a peer-reviewed scholarly publication (Sara, 2019). Commonly, research articles contain the title, abstract, introduction, research methods, results, discussions, and references. A thesis is the largest plan which students complete in their educational program to achieve a degree; it needs a vast extent of struggle and devotion for accomplishment (Berndtsson et al, 2007). A thesis is containing on five chapters i.e. introduction, literature review, methodology, results and findings, conclusion and recommendations (Paltridge & Starfield, 2019). The technical report is a document in written form yielded by the researcher to the sponsor about the findings and results of a project. It covers data, design, procedure, literature review, history of research, tables, and account of methods which were ineffective. Research projects are systematic works which attempt to accomplish planned aims by using scientific methods (Badreddine, 2019). It might comprise, a case series, survey, secondary data analysis as choice analysis, cost efficacy analysis or meta-analysis. It is intended to be talented to respond and provide resolutions to the problems being studied grounded on the earlier accounts. These categories are presented in the figure below so that readers can comprehend them easily.

Figure 2



Concluded that all categories of academic writing are significant, but, the main concentration in the present study is on doctoral dissertation writing so, this will be the main focus of discussion in the present research work.

Doctoral Dissertation Writing and Defense

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the highest

 degree in the educational program. This degree shows mastery of the degree achiever on the related subject. The two kinds of doctoral degrees are offered in the institutions, academic and professional first one is called Doctor of Philosophy abbreviated as PhD, and the second one is named Doctor of Education abbreviated EdD. Both types of degrees are the highest degrees. But to complete a Doctor of Philosophy degree there is essential for every PhD scholar to write a dissertation of more than eighty thousand words, and defend this written work before the committee to complete a degree program. 

A dissertation is a lengthy written work, particularly by PhD scholars to get their doctoral degrees on the completion of their academic program. It lets candidates present their results on a specific selected topic. It's generally formed on previously existing theory and contains research questions, research choices and a review of literature, methodology, analysis of results and discussion. The purpose of PhD dissertation is to trial candidates to measure their self-directed research skills which they have learned in university. The scholars who participated in this research claimed that they faced some challenges and issues while writing their doctoral dissertations.

Defend doctoral dissertation is ultimately required to complete the Doctor of Philosophy program. Therefore, for the accomplishment of the highest degree program, the doctorate candidates must defend their doctoral dissertation; which is imposed by the higher education commission to award a degree. Defending a dissertation is an opportunity for a scholar to defend his research work, and a committee of superintendents will estimate the scholar's research work. Defence contains two hours and encompasses four parts, the scholar introduces himself, presents a summary of his work, answers the questions asked by the committee of superintendents, and the committee in their private meeting discusses the scholar's performance and dissertation.

Previous Related Studies

In this part of the present research study, the researchers provide related literature from earlier research studies. Some research works are presented here, Dwihandini et al (2013) conducted research on undergraduates of Mahasaraswati University to analyze problems and complications in thesis writing. The result of this survey research disclosed three issues in thesis writing; psychological, sociocultural, and linguistic factors. Divsar, (2018) discovered the Iranian EFL PhD scholars’ challenges in dissertation writing, by selecting thirty PhD scholars from both genders.  Data was gathered via open-ended questions asked by interviewing the participants. The results showed that PhD scholars met many challenges as linguistics, lacking knowledge of SPSS, APA style, planning and managing time etc. Lestari (2020) conducted survey research on the EFL undergraduates of Muhammadiyah University of Bengkulu to explore issues in thesis writing, the results exposed that the major issue of these EFL student’s thesis writing was insufficient talent and ability in the English language. Puspita (2021) explored students' complications in thesis writing, by using survey techniques on forty-nine students. The results displayed three issues faced by students personality, sociocultural, and linguistic issues.




Research Methodology

Research methodology is the part of the research study in which researchers give an account of the research methods, which they have used to conduct their research. Similarly, in the present study, the researchers have described the methods they have employed in the present research. The research methodology comprises research designs, the population of the study, the selected sample for the study, instruments/tools which were used in the study, the data collection process, and in which way the collected data was analyzed and presented. Research design covers the entire method used by the researcher in the research (Ahmad, Farhat, & Choudhary, 2022). The researchers employed mixed approaches and collected data by using an online survey technique. The population of the study was those Pakistani PhD scholars who have completed their PhD degree in English, and for sampling fifty participants from both genders were selected as research contributors. An online questionnaire containing four open-ended questions was sent to the participants via email and WhatsApp for data collection; the collected data was analyzed by using frequency and thematic approaches and presented in tables.

Figure 3



Findings and Discussion

The findings of the research are presented in this part of the study, the demographic information which includes the gender and locality of the participants, and data of close-ended and open-ended questions was analyzed and presented below in tables. In the end, the findings are discussed.




Appendix-A

Demographic Information of The Participants

Demographic information of the research participants is presented in table one blew which includes the gender and location of the research contributors of the present study.

Table 1

Gender/Locality	Participants/Area	Numbers	Percentage	Total
Gender	Male	25	50% 50%	Total 50/ (100%) scholars participated in the research.
	Female	25
Location	Urban	30	60%
	Rural	20	40%

 Table one above shows that there was a total of 50 (100%) selected ESL scholars who contributed to the current research study. The 25 (50%) male and the 25 (50%) female research participants belong to the different places and areas of Pakistan; as the 30 (60%) belong to urban areas while the other 20 (40%) belong to rural areas of Pakistan.

Appendix-B

Challenges in Doctoral Dissertation Writing and Defense

To find the response to the first research question, in part B of the questionnaire, which contained two open-ended questions the former PhD scholars were asked to share the challenges they faced while writing and defending their doctoral dissertations.

Table 2

Extracted From Candidates’ Responses	Codes	Minor Themes	Major Theme
·          Lack of vocabulary.	Semantics	Linguistic challenges	Challenges in doctoral dissertation writing.
·          Using correct spellings.	Morphology
·          Grammatical rules, sentence structure.	Syntax.
·          Referencing and citation.	References
·          Paraphrasing and similarity.	Plagiarism
·          Selecting eye-catching topics. ·          Formulating dissertation statement. ·          Finding relevant literature, and data.	Confidence	Physiological challenges
·          Research methodology and designs. ·          Organizing chapters and documents. ·          Planning and managing time.	Motivation
·          Uncooperative friends. ·          Uncooperative family. ·          Uncooperative society.	Community	Sociocultural challenges
·          University format. ·          Unsupportive supervisor. ·          Uncooperative faculty members.	University	Institutional challenges
·          Technical issues in devices. ·          Operating laptops and computers.	Devices	Use of devices challenges
·          Searching material from the Internet/Google Scholar. ·          Downloading videos on YouTube. ·          Emailing.	Internet usage	Internet challenges
·          MS Word, Excel. ·          Creating an online questionnaire. ·          Employing designs and shapes. ·          Adjusting charts, tables and figures. ·          Statistical Package of Social Sciences. (SPSS) ·          Using Endnote for references.	Software program.	Software challenges

Writing a dissertation to complete a doctoral degree program is not an easy task for numerous researchers; while writing skillfully many researchers faces different kinds of challenges, mostly in framing statement, literature review, methodology, and finding data, etc. For the purpose of data collection, the fifty ESL PhD scholars who have completed their doctoral degree program were asked to share the challenges they have faced in doctoral dissertation writing. They shared different types of challenges which were abstracted and presented in the above table two. These extracted responses lead to thirteen codes, and codes lead to seven minor themes, finally leading to a major theme, which is challenges in doctoral dissertation writing these challenges are frequently faced by ESL doctorate scholars while completing their highest degree program called Doctor of Philosophy. 

Table 3

Extracted From Candidates’ Responses	Codes	Minor Themes	Major Theme
·         Lack of speaking power.	Speaking	Linguistic challenges	Challenges in doctoral dissertation defence.
·         Grammatical issues while speaking.	Grammar
·         Wrong pronunciation.	Phonological
·         Lack of confidence. ·         Lack of practice and experience.	Lack of experience	Physiological challenges
·         Unsupportive superintendent. ·         Uncooperative family and friends.	Lack of support.	Sociocultural challenges
·         Cross-cultural challenge for international students.	Cross-cultural issue	Cross-cultural challenges
·         Laptop and projector setting issues. ·         Internet and electricity issues.	Operating issues	Devices and net challenges
·         Making PowerPoint presentations. ·         Creating slides and designs.	PowerPoint	Software challenges

The researchers attempt to explore the challenges often faced by the students of second language users; in Pakistan, English is used as a second language. The research contributors were asked about the challenges they faced while defending their doctoral dissertation, which is the last requirement of completing a doctor of philosophy degree program. Most of the former doctorate scholars responded that they faced different kinds of issues and challenges while defending a dissertation. The extracted responses are presented in the above table three; these responses are leading us to eight codes presented in the table. These codes are leading us to six minor themes, and finally, these minor themes lead us to a major theme challenge in doctoral dissertation defence which is often faced by second language users in ESL countries. 

Appendix-C

Solutions of Doctoral Dissertation Writing and Defense

In part C, the research participants were also asked two open-ended questions to find the answer to the second research question. The former PhD scholars were asked to suggest solutions to the challenges which they often faced and experienced while writing and defending their doctoral dissertations. The solutions are presented in tables four and five below.

Table 4

Extracted from candidates’ responses

Theme

§  Avoid using informal language. §  Use formal language. §  Students must use technical language. §  Avoid emotional language. §  Avoid contractions. §  Use moderate words. §  Must select a dissertation topic which he/she loves and is interested in. §  Must be determined, goal-directed, cooperative, respectful and polite. §  Study various dissertations chapter-wise to get an understanding. §  Have a strong hold on computers and the internet. §  Much consideration to evade plagiarism. §  Must advance their English for desertion writing. §  Should manage their time properly. §  Study-related sources to sustain their research work. §  Doctoral Writing Seminar and writing workshops. §  Doctoral research also entails the development of personal capabilities.

Solutions to the challenges in dissertation writing.

 The veteran former doctor of philosophy scholars suggested some solutions to overcome the challenges in doctoral dissertation writing. Even though English is a second language for Pakistani students but nothing is impossible, PhD scholars can control these challenges in the future by keeping these suggestions in their minds. The suggestions are presented in the above table four. The responses were extracted and these extracts lead to the precise theme solutions of the challenges in doctoral dissertation writing. To advance their English to a suitable level before starting to write a dissertation, scholars must properly manage their time, and avoid plagiarism. Use formal style vocabulary for instance insufficient is more formal than enough. Sidestep contractions by using did not instead of didn’t. Avoid using emotional language, for instance, using strong words like terrible, use moderate words like problematic. In the place of using complete positives and negatives, as proof/wrong, use cautious evaluations, as strong evidence/less convincing.

Table 5

Extracted from candidates’ responses

Theme

§  Start preparation for your dissertation defence early. §  Attend other researchers’ presentations. §  Spend enough time to prepare the slides. §  Spend enough time designing the structure of the presentation. §  Practice breathing techniques. §  Practice speech and body language. §  Create an impressive introduction. §  Make a list of questions about your dissertation. §  Learn how to deal with your mistakes. §  Fictitious presentation / visualize yourself defending the dissertation. §  Control your nerves during the presentation. §  Get enough rest before a presentation. §  Ask for more information from your lecturer/supervisor/tutor

Solutions of the challenges in dissertation defiance.

 The former doctorate candidates were asked to share their experience, what are the solutions to the challenges often faced by the doctoral students while defending their dissertation. The results in Table five showing that most ESL scholars suggested that candidates should start the preparation of the dissertation very early. He / She must attend the presentations of other researchers to develop confidence. Make a list of the questions about the dissertation. Control your mistakes and develop self-confidence. The former candidates’ replies were extracted and presented in the above table. These extracted replies lead us to our theme solution of the challenges in dissertation defence.

Discussion

A doctorate degree which focuses on research in a specific field is called a Doctor of Philosophy abbreviated as a PhD. It's extremely theoretical and contains wide-ranging research to produce innovative knowledge. A dissertation differs from a thesis in the level as, a thesis is written for a Master/M.phil degree program, and a dissertation is written for a Doctoral/PhD degree program. A doctoral dissertation differs from and PhD dissertation, as PhD candidates present their research results/findings in dissertation format, whereas a doctorate candidate presents their results/findings in a doctoral study format. Both types of degrees are recognized equally by the U.S. Department of Education. Although writing and defending a dissertation is a difficult task for PhD scholars, it is tougher for EFL/ESL students to fulfil this purpose which is an essential requirement for completing a PhD degree. The same case is with our country Pakistan, a South Asian country where English is used there as a second language, the PhD scholars faced different kinds of challenges in writing and defending dissertations. For this purpose, the researchers decided to conduct their research.

The results of this survey exposed many challenges and solutions of doctoral dissertation writing and defending. The linguistics challenges, psychological challenges, sociocultural challenges, internet challenges, device usage challenges, software usage challenges, setting challenges, and cross-cultural challenges often faced by international scholars are explored in this study. Some results of the present study are parallel with the results of the studies of Puspita (2019) exposed sociocultural and linguistic issues in thesis writing, and Dwindhandi, et.al (2020) psychological, sociocultural, and linguistic issues in thesis writing. In the same way, Roni (2022) tried to explore these types of challenges in his master's thesis at the University of Jambi in Indonesia. But the present research is conducted in Pakistan on those PhD scholars who have completed their doctoral degree program. The researchers of this study attempt to expose writing and defending dissertation which was not yet sufficiently exposed. The findings of this study exposed more challenges and solutions which were never revealed before in any research study. For example, the internet, devices, software, financial, cross-cultural and many more challenges are exposed in this study. Which makes this research a masterpiece work. The findings of this study will make this enormous journey accessible for scholars the in future. 

Conclusion

The prime goal of conducting this research was to benefit doctorate-level ESL scholars to overcome challenges which they often faced in their doctoral dissertation writing and defence. This study was an effort to aware ESL scholars so that they can bring improvement in their dissertation writing and defence in the future. In writing and defending dissertations, ESL scholars often faced several challenges. Commonly faced challenges by doctorate scholars are as; firstly, linguistics and writing knowledge issues which include (grammar, vocabulary, paraphrasing, and referencing). Secondly, psychological issues (lacking confidence, and motivation). Thirdly, media and resources issues (online platforms, limited references, inaccessible websites). Lastly, supervision and time management issues (unsupportive behaviour of supervisor, and problems in managing time). But in the current survey research, the researchers have revealed some more challenges such as electricity, devices, internet usage, software usage, and cross-cultural challenges etc. and also discovered some solutions to overcome these challenges in the future. 

Suggestions and Recommendations

Considering these findings, the researchers give some suggestions for doctoral dissertation writing and defending. The doctorate candidates can reduce their issues and overcome these challenges in this way.

The researchers suggested that while writing dissertation doctorate scholars must select their interested topic and study related articles/dissertations from prestigious journals to comprehend and sustain their research work. ESL scholars must focus on the writing style of the academic articles related to their discipline to advance their English for writing dissertations. The scholars must use formal language, and avoid plagiarism in desertion writing. To achieve their goal, they essentially are strong-minded, goal-directed, supportive, polite and well-mannered. They have a strong grip on operating software, internet and laptop. Scholars must need to manage their time properly, and also find support from society.

The researchers also suggested that while defending a dissertation, ESL scholars must practice dissertations regularly to develop self-confidence. The scholar should make a PowerPoint presentation of his dissertation; make a list of questions, and attend presentations of others or watch videos of presentations on social media, it will help in dealing with mistakes and controlling nerviness. A scholar must need to improve their speaking skills so that he/she can clearly elucidate his/her point of view evidently before the dissertation committee.

The researchers also recommended to future researchers conduct more research in the field related to the present study, which will provide guidance to the ESL scholars so that they can easily achieve their goal to accomplish a doctor of philosophy degree. 

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