<![CDATA[Learning academic writing in English can be challenging for first-year students. This study explores the academic writing difficulties experienced by first-year English majors and the strategies they use to overcome them. Using a descriptive qualitative method, the study involved semi-structured interviews with six students of high, moderate, and low writing performance at a public university in Indonesia. The data were analyzed thematically. The findings revealed three main categories of difficulty: linguistic, organizational, and affective. All participants reported limited vocabulary, difficulty developing and connecting ideas, time pressure, and low confidence. Other challenges included paragraph coherence (n = 5), grammar and sentence construction (n = 4), difficulty initiating writing (n = 4), and writing anxiety (n = 4). These difficulties were associated with tight deadlines, heavy workloads, unfamiliar topics, and limited prior writing experience. Strategy used varies by performance level. Higher-performing students used proactive strategies, including extensive reading, outlining, peer feedback, and selective AI assistance. In contrast, lower-performing students relied more heavily on AI tools and practiced writing less frequently. Only one participant sought direct guidance from a lecturer. These findings highlight the need for explicit writing instruction, scaffolded practice, supportive feedback, and ethical AI literacy in tertiary EFL curricula.]]>
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