Although there have been numerous studies, both theoretical and practical,
to help teachers, students, curriculum designers and test builders on teaching
academic writing in L2 (e.g. Halliday and Hasan, 1976, 1989; Grabe and Kaplan,
1996 ), this study will focus on whether or not we can understand the reasons for
lack of coherence in students’ L2 academic writing by comparing the L1 and L2
performances of the students.