Academic tutors’ perceptions towards literature review writing

1. Academic tutors’ perceptions towards literature review writing Hui-Ling Lang 郎慧玲(Ph.D) Department of Applied English Ming Chuan University huilinglang@hotmail.com 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

2. Introduction • Writing a thesis at Master ' s level is regarded by most students as a difficult task . • Within the dissertation, literature review (LR) writing is particularly challenging as writers need to read a great deal of materials and need to report on their reading appropriately, following the required linguistic and academic conventions , such as giving references and appropriate use of reporting verbs (RVs). • Students coming from a Chinese-speaking background find many of these conventions new . • A poor grasp of the conventions, for instance, insufficient acknowledgement of source materials, can lead to accusations of plagiarism, a phenomenon treated very seriously within English-speaking academic culture. 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

3. Introduction (con.) • Students with a Chinese-speaking background find it particularly challenging to have to evaluate other people’s views, and assume a stance towards cited sources. • They tend to use author’s materials without acknowledgement and also to use reference in a naïve way without understanding the function which they serve in the text. 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

4. Rationale of the study • Previous literature show that the problems that ESL students encounter have only been perceived from the perspective of applied linguists or language teachers with EAP teaching experience. No study has examined the perceptions of subject tutors who work with ESL students in Business Studies to find whether students do have problems in terms of LR writing. 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

5. Research questions What are Business tutors’ perceptions of the importance of the LR in relation to other sections of the dissertation? What are Business tutors’ perceptions of the characteristics of a good LR? 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

6. Method • Participants: 15 British academic tutors including 13 native tutors and 3 non-native tutors. Profile of academic tutors. Doc • Duration of the interview: 30 minutes • Analysis: content analysis 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

7. 1. How important is the Literature Review (LR) chapter, or reporting the literature in general, compared to other sections in the whole dissertation? • There were two distinct points of view represented. Thirteen tutors (ten-L1 and three-L2) regarded the LR as a very important part of a dissertation and said it played an important role in their grade marking. They described its significance as central, crucial, important, fundamental. For example: Extract 1 • I should say it is central. A student has to know and have a good understanding of the wider literature. A student has to know what has been tested in their dissertations. So it is crucial. I don't think you can get through an academic MSc dissertation without doing a good LR. (T1-L1) Extract 2 • The LR is important. I think it is crucial to any piece of, we will call it research work (…). So if it isn't a LR that is adequate, then it will be very difficult for me to recommend a ‘pass’ (T7-L1) 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

8. How important is the Literature Review (LR) chapter, or reporting the literature in general, compared to other sections in the whole dissertation? • However, two tutors (T6-L1 and T9-L1) held a different point of view. Extract 3 • The LR will be necessary but I will look for the empirical content, their understanding from the empirical analysis and conclusions they draw from that and how they relate the empirical work and the LR because frankly the LRs are rubbish and not very good and not very relevant. So that I look to see from their empirical analysis how they can understand the limitations of the LR. (T6-L1) Extract 4 • They just don't have the time to spend more than a couple of weeks on any sort of literature review so inevitably it is fairly superficial. (T9-L1) • While it is clear that the majority of these tutors regard the LR as a very significant section of a dissertation, it is interesting to see the contrary view expressed with such force. 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

9. 2. In your opinion, what are the characteristics of a good literature review? 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

10. Thematic • Five tutors stressed the thematic nature of a good LR. For example: Extract 5 • An academic LR is thematic not chronological or by authors. You are really looking for students to develop any relevant themes that are supportive to develop their topic. (T1-L1) Extract 6 • The idea would be to try and probably pick themes out, you know, not just say 'this person said this in this article (…) unless that was the key article (…) it would be to take a particular theme and then part of it and then another bit, to organise the material and to synthesise the material in a thematic way. To present something as a whole if you like. (T14-L1) 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

11. Purposeful • The second element stressed by four tutors was the need for a good LR to be based on the purpose of the study and on the research questions. For example: Extract 7 • The direction should be correct and the main issues should be highlighted. (…) the purpose of why you do the LR should be clear (…) For the MSc level, a concrete direction should be clear. (T8-L2) Extract 8 • A good LR I would expect, the writer of the review I would expect to identify what is more and less significant in terms of the particular research questions that they are following. (T2-L1) 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

12. Synthesis • Three tutors argued that a LR should involve synthesis. For instance: Extract 9 • I think some of the students think that it requires you to summarise the various studies of literature they have looked at and present them(…) that is the first stage of research that you perhaps go through the articles and so on and then summarise them. (…) And you think about how they can be compared or contrasted, analysed and build up your own arguments and draw various ones in support or refute or look at different aspects then doing almost a cluster of studies around themes and so on. (T4-L1) 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

13. Critique • The fourth characteristic of a good LR is criticality. Three tutors stressed the importance of presenting a critical LR. For example: Extract 10 • Critique, you would also expect them to be critical of it or at least counterpoint to different arguments over A says this and B is saying that. So find literature sources that both support their thesis and then, to a certain extent, potentially say that something else could be the case as well. (T11-L1) 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

14. Completing a gap in the previous literature • Two tutors mentioned that a good LR should reveal a gap that the previous literature has not covered but one of them recognised that this was a difficult objective at Master's level. For example: Extract 11 • You will be looking to see whether students make some analyses of the type of methods to be used to identify gaps in the LR but to be honest it is very ambitious for MSc student dissertations. (…) To do that (find the gap) in a coherent and systematic way probably takes time. (T6-L1) 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

15. Thorough • T7 indicated that the LR should be thorough. Extract 12 • It is a thorough review of the literature. Certainly a review does not rely on a few key references but has gone wider than that, has attempted to include let's say all references of a given period. (T7-L1) 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

16. Selective • T13 felt that the LR has to be selective and suggested that this is the feature which distinguishes stronger from weaker students. Extract 13 • I think the stronger students will be more selective about the literature they choose and will work within and recognise the framework and will select a work because they will choose the literature which has meaning for their kind of empirical work and it will be more like the LR which you see in research articles. It is focused rather than telling you a broad story about everything that has been done. (…) I think it is certainly a mark of strong research students. The weaker students re-produce everything they can find. (T13-L1) 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

17. Number and kinds of references in a LR • There was no consensus about the number of references. • Two tutors felt that a good LR should contain at least 25 or more articles, and another felt that 50 references would comprise a good LR but they had to be carefully selected (T8). T5, T11 and T12 emphasised the importance of having up–to-date references. T11 and T14 both felt that textbooks should not be used as sources and T14 suggested that monograph-type books should be used. T15 preferred his students to use journal articles as sources rather than textbooks. 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University

18. Thank you very much for your kind attention.Q and A Hui-Ling Lang 郎慧玲(Ph.D) Department of Applied English Ming Chuan University huilinglang@hotmail.com 2007 Nov 6 EAP Seminar, National Chung-Cheng University