CHALLENGES OF TEACHING ACADEMIC WRITING TO EFL STUDENTS IN NON-PHILOLOGICAL HIGHER EDUCATION: OBSTACLES AND PEDAGOGICAL SOLUTIONS

Academic writing is a vital skill for higher education students, serving as the primary vehicle for research dissemination, international collaboration, and academic success. However, for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students at non-philological institutions, such as Tashkent State Agrarian University, mastering academic writing in English presents a unique set of cognitive, linguistic, and cultural challenges. Traditional instruction often focuses on sentence-level grammar rather than macro-level discourse organization, leaving students unprepared for the demands of academic publishing. This article analyzes the primary obstacles EFL students face when producing academic texts, including first-language (L1) rhetorical transfer, lack of genre awareness, limited academic vocabulary, and high writing anxiety. It proposes practical pedagogical solutions, such as genre-based scaffolding, the integration of mentor texts from agricultural and technical fields, systematic teaching of academic stance, and process-oriented feedback. By implementing these active strategies, instructors can guide technical students toward producing logical, coherent, and internationally competitive academic texts.