LLT Journal, e-ISSN 2579-9533, p-ISSN 1410-7201, Vol. 26, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 293-310 LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Learning http://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/LLT Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 293 EFL STUDENTS’ CHALLENGES IN WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSALS Yustinus Calvin Gai Mali Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Indonesia correspondence: yustinus.mali@uksw.edu https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v26i1.5296 received 29 October 2022; accepted 30 March 2023 Abstract This qualitative study delves closely into students’ challenges of writing specific sections (i.e., introduction, literature review, and method) of their research proposal and coping strategies to deal with those challenges, specifically in online learning environments amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Data were garnered from six Indonesian EFL undergraduates taking a research design course at a private university in Central Java, Indonesia. Selected based on the intensity sampling technique, these students were involved in an in-depth semi-structured interview session with the researcher to share their voices on the writing challenges and coping strategies as well as parts of the course they found useful and practical suggestions for class improvement. The data analysis results indicated that writing a good research proposal might be challenging for the research participants, considering the various challenges they experienced when writing sections of their research proposal. Different coping strategies to deal with those challenges, useful parts of the course and suggestions for class improvement were presented and discussed in the discourse of the reviewed literature. The paper ends with some directions for future research. Keywords: challenge, EFL writing, research proposal writing Introduction In Indonesian higher education contexts, such as those in English Language Education Programs, writing a research proposal is a prerequisite for undergraduate students to start their actual research, collect their research data, write their thesis, and eventually finish their studies. The research proposal also functions “as a research plan and helps the students gain an important focus of their studies and find the research directions to proceed” (cited in Wang & Yang, 2012, p. 324). However, writing a good proposal might be a challenging task for the students, given their little experience in conducting research (Yeh, 2009) and their difficulties in writing academically in their foreign language, i.e., English (Alharbi, 2019; Altınmakas & Bayyurt, 2019; Diasti & Mbato, 2020; Harahap & Syarif, 2022; Jabali, 2018; Zulfikar, 2016). Writing a proposal might be more challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a situation when this study was carried out; the pandemic causes the sudden instructional change from face-to- face to online learning, where students are often confronted with technological