A Comparative Study on the Perceptions of Academic Essay Titles among Korean and International Undergraduate Students

This study compares and analyzes the perceptions of Korean and international undergraduate students regarding academic essay titles, with the aim of exploring pedagogical implications for title construction in academic writing. The characteristics of academic titles were classified into two categories—content and expression—with eight sub-dimensions, which were then reflected in a set of sample titles. These titles were evaluated by both Korean and international undergraduates, supplemented with open-ended questions to capture individual perceptions.The findings indicate that both groups tended to highly evaluate titles that were inappropriate for academic writing, suggesting a general lack of ability to discern the academic adequacy of titles at the undergraduate level. Furthermore, compared to their Korean counterparts, international students demonstrated weaker awareness of issues related to inappropriate scope and lack of objectivity in titles. In terms of expression, differences emerged in the evaluation of overly complex titles: Korean students’ judgments were informed by their background knowledge of the purposes and conventions of academic writing, whereas such connections were not evident among international students. Based on these results, pedagogical directions for enhancing undergraduate students’ competence in constructing academic titles are proposed.