Аңдатпа
There are several factors that contribute to poor academic writing skills amongst university students. The article presents a critical review of literature on social aspects leading to unsatisfactory writing abilities and provides a case study dedicated to the analysis of the impact of social factors on the formation of academic writing competence amongst PhD students in one of the leading Kazakhstani universities. These factors include environmental and individual moderators as well as writing triggers and blockers. Consequently, these factors affect the quality of student writing at tertiary level, especially among young researchers in the Kazakhstani context. By the usage of a semi-structured questionnaire as a research method the present study has shown that positive communication with the research supervisor, the anticipated sense of achievement and a positive spatial environment that is suitable for protected time for writing facilitate the process of academic writing. Meanwhile, there are some factors that have a negative impact on the academic writing process, which include mostly psychological issues such as the fear of negative feedback, the lack of time-management and self-regulation skills. The article argues that these issues need to be addressed if thesis writing is to be improved.