Learner characteristics,as one of the three major parameters that shape academic genre learning,merit due attention in current research of genre-based English for academic purposes(EAP) writing pedagogy in China.This study investigated a group of students learning to write master's theses in an EAP course at a Chinese university and examined their learner characteristics in the genre learning process.Data were collected from semi-structured interviews,participants' study logs,and their written texts.Three salient individual factors were identified to influence participants' learning of thesis writing:dependence on previous L2 writing experiences;critical awareness of thesis writing conventions;lack of perception of the discoursal identity in writing practice.The effects of these learner characteristics on genre knowledge development are further discussed,and pedagogical implications are also proposed.