Supervisors’ Perceptions of Postgraduate Students’ Thesis Literature Review Writing in a Ghanaian University
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.91.11120Keywords:
challenges, supervisors’ perceptions, students’ engagement, thesis literature reviewAbstract
A key rhetorical unit in the thesis, the literature review has in recent times received some interest by specialists and researchers of English for Academic Purposes, academic literacy, discourse analysis, and assessment. The present study reports the perceptions of graduate supervisors regarding students’ engagement with thesis literature review writing, focusing on students’ challenges and strategies faced and adopted respectively. Semi-structured interviews were administered to nine (three each) supervisors from three Humanities departments from one public Ghanaian university. The results showed, first, supervisors’ awareness of thesis literature review writing as pivotal and, second, challenges such as reading and comprehension of texts, exercising criticality, synthesizing, referencing, and language use. Further, supervisors identified graduate students’ key coping strategies such as summarizing, paraphrasing, patchwriting, concept mapping, and guidelines from supervisory interactions. These findings have implications for the scholarship on supervisors’ perceptions concerning postgraduate students’ literature review writing in a region least featured in the literature as well as postgraduate pedagogy and further research.
References
Adel, S.M.R., Amirian, S.M.R. & Ghaderi, H. (2015). A critical and practical analysis of the
generic rhetorical structure of literature reviews in the non-native theses of Iranian TEFL
students. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 2 (5), 113-127.
Adika, G. S. K. (2015). Credibility and accountability in academic discourse: Increasing the
awareness of Ghanaian graduate students. Practice and Theory in Systems of Education, 10 (3), 227-244.
Afful, I. (2017). Dialogic positioning in the literature review sections of MPhil theses.
Unpublished MPhil thesis. University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Afful, J.B.A. (2008). Engaging with the writing of a thesis: A narrative of a recently graduated
doctoral researcher. Drumspeak, 1 (1), 1-21.
Afful, J.B.A. (2016). A genre study of undergraduate dissertation acknowledgements in a
Ghanaian university. ESP Today, 4 (2), 5-21.
Afful, J.B.A. (2020). The discourse of thesis assessment reports in a disciplinary community at
the University of Cape Coast: An exploratory study. International Journal of Language,
Literature and Gender Studies (LALIGENS), 9 (1), 117-134.
Afful, J.B.A. & Akoto, Y. O. (2010). Cross-disciplinary study of dissertation titles: The case of a
university in Ghana. Professional and Academic English, 36: 4-11
Afful, J.B.A. & Nartey, M. (2014). Cohesion in the abstracts of undergraduate dissertations: An
intra-disciplinary study in a Ghanaian university. Journal of ELT and Applied Linguistics (JELTAL), 2 (1), 93-108.
Akindele, O. (2008). A critical analysis of the literature review section of graduate dissertations
at the University of Botswana. ESP World, 4 (20) 7.
Al-Ali, M. N. (2010). Generic patterns and socio-cultural resources in acknowledgements
accompanying Arabic Ph.D. dissertations. Pragmatics, 20: 1-26.
Al Badi, I. A. H. (2015). Academic writing difficulties of ESL learners. The 2015 West East
Institute International Academic Conference Proceedings, 65-76.
Ali, N.A.A. (2016). Citation practices in the literature review: A contrastive study of Sudanese
and British Applied Linguistics Ph.D. theses. World Journal of English Language, 6 (4),
-49.
Afolabi, M. (1992). The review of related literature in research. International Journal of
Information and Library Research, 4 (1), 59-66.
Akoto, O.Y. (2013). Metadiscourse in English and Sociology Masters theses: The case of
University of Cape Coast, Unpublished MPhil thesis. University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
Allison, D. (1997). Reviewing research in Applied Linguistics. Topics in Language and
Literature: Occasional Paper Series 8. Singapore: Department of English Language
and Literature, National University of Singapore.
Angelova, M., & Riazantseva, A. (1999). If you don’t tell me, how can I know?: A case study of
four international students learning to write the U.S way. Written Communication, 16,
-525
Ashworth, P., Bannister, P. & Thorne, P. (1997). Guilty in whose eyes? University students’
perceptions of cheating and plagiarism in academic work and assessment. Studies in
Higher Education, 22(2), 187-203.
Atkinson, D. (1997). A critical approach to critical thinking. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 71-94.
Badenhorst, C.M. (2017). Literature reviews, citations and intertextuality in graduate student
writing, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 43(2), 263-275. DOI:10.1080/0309877X.2017.1359504
Badenhorst, C.M. (2018). Citation practices of postgraduate students’ writing literature reviews.
London Review of Education, 16 (1), 121-135.
Bao, D., & Leikin, I. (2013). Graduate student scholars embarking on research: Assessment of
masters’ minor theses in an Australian university. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh Open University, 1 (6), 35-44.
Baxter, P., & Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and
implementation for novice researchers. The Qualitative Report, 13(4), 544-556
Benesch, S. (2001). Critical English for Academic Purposes: Theory, politics, practice. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Biggs, J. (1994). Asian learners through Western eyes: An astigmatic paradox. Australian and
New Zealand Journal of Vocational Educational Research, 2(2), 40-63.
Bitchener, J. (2010). Writing an applied linguistics thesis or dissertation: A guide to presenting
empirical research. Basingstoke & New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bitchener, J., & Basturkmen, H. (2006). Perceptions of the difficulties of postgraduate L2
thesis students’ writing the discussion section. Journal of English for Academic
Purposes. 5(1), 4-18.
Boote, D. N. & Beile, P. (2005). Scholars before researchers: On the centrality of the dissertation
literature review in research preparation. Educational Researcher, 34 (6), 3-15.
Bourke, S., & Holbrook, A. (2013). Examining PhD and research master’s theses. Assessment &
Evaluation in Higher Education, 38, 407-416.
Bruce, C. (1994). Supervising literature review. In O. Zubert-Skerritt & Y. Ryan (Eds.) Quality
in postgraduate education (pp. 143-155). London: Kogan Page.
Bruce, C. (2001). Interpreting the scope of their literature reviews: Significant differences in
research students’ concerns. New Library World, 102 (4/5), 158-166.
Bruce, C. (2014). Expressing criticality in the literature review in research article introductions in
applied linguistics and psychology. English for Specific Purposes, 36, 85-96.
Bryman, A. (1992). Quantitative and qualitative research: further reflections on their
integration. In J. Brannen (Ed.), Mixing methods: qualitative and quantitative
research (pp. 57-78). Brookfield: Avebury.
Bunton, D. (2002). Generic moves in PhD thesis introductions. In J. Flowerdew (Ed), Academic
discourse (pp. 57-75). Harlow, England: Longman.
Bunton, D. (2005). The structure of PhD conclusion chapters. Journal of English for Academic
Purposes, 4 (3), 207-224.
Busch-Lauer, I.A. (2000). Titles of English and German research papers in Medicine and Linguistics theses and research articles. In A. Trosborg (Ed.). Analysing professional genre (pp. 77-94). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamin.
Casanave, C. (2014). Before the dissertation: A textual mentor for doctoral students at early
stages of a research project, Ann Arbor, MI: U Michigan Press.
Casanave, C., & Hubbard, P. (1992). The writing assignments and writing problems of doctoral
students: Faculty perceptions, pedagogical issues, and needed research. English for Specific Purposes, 11(1), 33-49.
Chamot, A.U. & Kupper, L. (1989). Learning strategies in foreign language instruction. Foreign
Language Annuals, 22, 13-24.
Chen, M. (2009). Tense reporting in dissertation literature reviews. Journal of Cambridge
Studies, 4 (2), 139-149.
Chen, D.-T.V., Wang, Y.-M. and Lee, W.C. (2016). Challenges confronting beginning
researchers in conducting literature reviews. Studies in Continuing Education, 38 (1), 47-60.
Chen, X. & Li, M. (2019). Chinese learner writers’ niche establishment in the literature review
chapters of theses: A diachronic perspective. Journal of English for Academic Purposes
: 48-58.
Cheng, A. (2006). Analyzing and enacting academic criticism: The case of an L2 graduate
learner of academic writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 279-306.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research methods in education (8th ed.). London:
Routledge.
Cooper, H. M. (1989). Integrating research: A guide for literature reviews. (2nd ed.) Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cotos, E., Huffman, S., & Link, S. (2017). A move/step model for methods sections:
Demonstrating rigour and credibility. English for Specific Purposes, 46: 90-106.
Cronin, P. Ryan, F., & Coughlan, M. (2008). Undertaking a literature review: A step-by-
approach. British Journal of Nursing, 17 (1), 38-43.
Dong, Y. R. (1998). Non-native graduate students’ thesis/dissertation writing in science self-
reports by students and their advisors from two U.S. Institutions. English For Specific
Purposes, 17: 369-390.
Dudley-Evans, T. (1984). A preliminary investigation of the writing of dissertation titles
In G. James (Ed.) The ESP Classroom (pp. 40-46). Exeter, UK: Exeter Linguistic
Studies.
Dudley-Evans, T. (1999). The dissertation: A case of neglect? In P. Thompson (Ed.). Issues in
EAP writing research and instruction (pp. 28-36). University of Reading: CALS.
Duff, P.A. (2008). Case study research in Applied Linguistics. New York & London: Lawrence
Erlbaum.
Flowerdew, J. & Forest, R.W. (2009). Schematic structure and lexico-grammatical realization in
corpus-based genre analysis: The case of research in the PhD literature review. In M.
Charles, D. Pecorari, & S. Hunston (Eds.). Academic writing: At the interface of corpus
and discourse (pp. 15-36). New York: Continuum.
Foese, A., Gantz, B., & Henry, A. (1998). Teaching students to write literature reviews: A meta-
analytic model. Teaching of Psychology, 25 (2), 102-105.
Freer, P.K. & Barker, A. (2008). An instructional approach for improving the writing of
literature reviews. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 17 (2), 69-82.
Gamoran, A., & Nystrand, M. (1992). Taking students seriously. In F. Newmann (Ed.). Student
engagement and achievement in American secondary schools (pp. 40-61). New York: Teachers College Press.
Gil-Salom, L. & Soler-Monreal, C. (2014). Writers’ positioning in literature reviews in English
and Spanish computing doctoral theses. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 16,
-39.
Hansford, B. C. & Maxwell, T. W. (1993). A master’s degree programme: Structural
components and examiners’ comments, Higher Education Research and Development,
(2), 171-187.
Hart, C. (1998). Doing a literature review. London: Sage.
Hewings, M. (1993). The end! How to conclude a dissertation. G. Blue (Ed.), Language,
learning and success, RELT, 3 (1): 105-112.
Hidalgo, H. & Razo, R.M.F. (2014). Writing the literature review: Challenges of two Mexican
novice writers. Rhetoric, Professional Communication and Globalization, 6, 38-55.
Ho, M.C. (2013) The difficulties in disciplinary research writing: a case study of first-year
graduate students in Taiwan. Journal of Teaching and Education, 2(4), 77-87.
Hopkins, A. & Dudley-Evans, T. (1988). A genre-based investigation of the discussion section in
articles and dissertations. English for Specific Purposes, 7 (2), 113-122.
Hsaio, C-H. (2016). Genre analysis of low-rated and high-rated literature reviews of EFL
postgraduates. International Journal of English Language Teaching, 3 (1), 1-19.
Hsaio, C. & Yu, H. (2012). Knowledge presentation in thesis writing: Examining move use in
reviewing literature. English Teaching and Learning, 36 (3), 1-47.
Holbrook, A., Bourke, S., Lovat, T. & Dally, K. (2004). Qualities and characteristics in the
written reports of doctoral thesis examiners. Australian Journal of Educational &
Developmental Psychology, 4, 110-129.
Holbrook, A., Bourke, S., Fairbairn, H. & Lovat, T. (2007). Examiner comment on the literature
review in PhD theses. Studies in Higher Education, 32 (3). 337-356.
Hyland, K. (1999). Academic attribution: Citation and the construction of disciplinary
knowledge. Applied Linguistics, 20(3), 341–367. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/applin/
3.341.
Hyland, K. (2000). Disciplinary discourses: Social interaction in academic writing. London:
Longman.
Hyland, K. (2003). Dissertation acknowledgements: The anatomy of a Cinderella genre, Written
Communication, 29(3), 242-268.
Jabulani, S. (2014). An analysis of the language of attribution in university students’ academic
essays. South African Journal of Education, 34 (3), 1-1.
Johns, A. M. & Swales, J. M. (2002). Literacy and disciplinary practices: Opening and closing
perspectives. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 1, 13-28.
Jomaa, N.J. & Bidin, S.J. (2016). Roles of cited author in citations of the literature review by
EFL postgraduates. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 5
(7), 213-224.
Kawase, T. (2015). Metadiscourse in the introductions of PhD theses and research articles.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 20, 114-124.
Khoo, C.G.G., Na, J.C. & Jaidka, K. (2011). Analysis of macro-level discourse structure of
literature review. Online Information Review, 35 (2), 271.
Komba, S.C. (2016). Challenges of writing theses and dissertations among postgraduate students
in Tanzania higher learning institutions. International Journal of Research Studies in
Education, 5 (3), 71-80.
Krishnan, L.A. & Kathpalia, S.S. (2002). Literature reviews in student project reports. IEEE
Transactions on Professional Communication, 45 (3), 187-197.
Kvale, S. (2007). Doing interviews. London: Sage.
Kwan, B.S.C. (2006). The schematic structure of literature reviews in doctoral theses of applied
linguistics. English for Specific Purposes, 25 (1), 30-55.
Lan, F. (2015). A case study into the writing of Chinese postgraduate students in a UK
academic environment. English language Teaching, 8(9), 86-95.
Lee, E. A., & Laverty, C. (2014). Unravelling the literature review: Helping graduate students in
education re-conceptualize the research process. Proceedings of the European
Conference on Information Literacy, Dubrovnik, Croatia, October 20-23.
Leki, I. (1995). Coping strategies of ESL students in writing tasks across the curriculum. TESOL
Quarterly, 29 (2), 235-260.
Li, S. & Wang, H. (2018). Traditional literature review and research synthesis. In A. Phakiti, P.
DeCosta, L., Plonsky, & S. Starfield (Eds.). Palgrave handbook of Applied Linguistics research methodology (pp. 123-144. London: Palgrave.
Liao, J. & Han, J. (2012). The discursive construction of literature review: An examination of
Chinese PhD students’ information behaviour. Joint AARE APERA International
Conference Sydney 1-13.
Liu, P.C. (2007). Learning how to write a good MA thesis literature review: A case study of one
Taiwanese graduate student. Unpublished master’s thesis, Yuan Chih University.
Lovitts, B.E. (2007). Making the implicit explicit: Creating performance expectations for the
dissertation. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Man, D., Xu, Y., Chau, M.H., O’Toole, J.M., & Shunmugam, K. (2020). Assessment feedback in
examiner reports on master’s dissertations in translation studies. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 64: 1-8.
Meng, Z. E. & Tseng, M.L. (2013). Writing anxiety and EFL graduates’ academic writing
practices: A case study on two EFL graduate students’ learning to write thesis proposals.
International Conference and Workshop on TEFL & Applied Linguistics. Retrieved
from www.researchgate.net
Mulinge, M.M. & Arasa, J. N. (2013). Investigating the quality of postgraduate research in
African universities today: A qualitative analysis of external examination report.
International Journal of Arts and Commerce, 2 (2), 174-193.
Mullins, G., & Kiley, M. (2002). `It’s a PhD, not a Nobel Prize ’: How experienced examiners
assess research theses. Studies in Higher Education, 27(4), 369-386.
Nimulola, M.A. (2018). Examiners’ comments on masters’ dissertations at the Islamic
University in Uganda. Interdisciplinary Journal of Education, 1 (2), 186-2017.
Nguyen, T. T. L., & Pramoolsook, I. (2015). Reporting verbs in literature review chapters of
TESOL master’s theses written by Vietnamese postgraduates. ESP Today, 3 (2), 196-215.
Nguyen, T.T.L. & Pramoolsook, I. (2016). Citations in literature review chapters of TESOL
master’s theses by Vietnamese postgraduates. GEMA Online Journal of Language
Studies, 16 (2), 17-32.
Nyika A. (2014). Postgraduate research methodological flaws detected at final examination
stage: Who is to blame? South African Journal of Science, 110(3/4), 1-4.
O’Malley, J. M., & Chamot, A. U. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Paltridge, B. (2002). Thesis and dissertation writing: An examination of published advice and
actual practice. English for Specific Purposes, 21, 125-143.
Paltridge, B. & Starfield, S. (2007). Thesis and dissertation writing in a second language: A
handbook for supervisors. New York: Routledge. Michigan: University of Michigan
Press.
Pecorari, D. (2001). Plagiarism and international students: How the English-speaking university
responds. In D.D. Belcher, & A. R. Hirvela (Eds.) Linking literacies: Perspectives on L2
reading-writing connections (pp. 229-245). Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
Peng, H. (2018). Supervisors’ views of the generic difficulties in thesis/dissertation writing of
Chinese EFL research students. The Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5 (1), 93-103.
Petric, B. (2005). Citation practices in student academic writing. Unpublished PhD thesis.
Budapest.
Premaratne, D.D. (2013). Discipline-based variations in the literature review in the PhD thesis: A
perspective from the discipline of history. Education Research and Perspectives 40, 236-254.
Qian, J. & Krugly-Smolska, E. (2008). Chinese graduate students’ experiences with writing a
literature review. TESL Canada Journal, 1-18.
Ramanathan, V. & Atkinson, D. (1999). Individualism, academic writing and ESL writers.
Journal of Second Language Writing, 8 (1), 45-75.
Rasmeenin, C. (2006). A structural move analysis of MA thesis discussion sections in applied
linguistics. Unpublished master’s thesis. Mahidol University, Thailand.
Ren, H./ Li, Y. 2011. A comparison on the rhetorical moves of abstracts in published research
articles and master’s foreign-language theses. English Language Teaching, 4 (1), 162-
Riazi, A. (1997). Acquiring disciplinary literacy: A social-cognitive analysis of text production
and learning among Iranian graduate students of Education. Journal of Second Language
Writing, 6 (2), 105-136.
Ridley, D.M. (2003). The PhD literature review: A journey of discovery. Unpublished PhD
thesis, University of Sheffield.
Ridley, D.M. (2011). The literature review: A step-by-step guide for students (2nd ed.) London:
Sage.
Ryan, G.W. & Bernard, H.R. (2000). Data management and analysis methods. In N.K. Denzin &
Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.) Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 769-802). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Samraj, B. (2008). A discourse analysis of master’s theses across disciplines with a focus on
introductions. English for Specific Purposes, 7, 55-67.
Soler-Monreal, C. (2015). Announcing one’s work in PhD theses in computer sciences: A
comparison of Move 3 in literature reviews written in English L1, L2 and Spanish L1.
English for Specific Purposes, 40: 27-41.
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J.M. & Lindemann, S. (2002). Teaching the literature review to international graduate
students. In A.M. Johns (Ed.) Genre in the classroom: Multiple perspectives (pp. 105-199). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Swales, J.M. & Feak, C. (2004). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and
skills (2nd ed). Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
Tahririan, M. & Jalilifar, A. (2004). Generic analysis of thesis and dissertation abstracts:
variation across cultures. Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7, 121-143.
Thompson, P. (2001). A pedagogically motivated corpus-based examination of PhD theses:
Macrostructure, citation practices and uses of modal verbs. Unpublished PhD thesis, The
University of Reading.
Tulu, G., Tolosa, T., & Page, L. (2019). Methodological flaws: A review of sample masters
theses. Journal of Education, Society and Behavioural Science, 31 (1), 1-14.
Turner, E. & Bitchener, J. (2008). An approach to teaching the writing of literature reviews.
Zeitschrift Schreiben, 1-10. Online. https://zeitschrift-
schreiben.eu/globalassets/zeitschrift-schreiben.eu/2008/turner_approach_teaching.pdf
(accessed 18 November 2017).
University of Cape Coast (2017). Basic statistics. Cape Coast, Ghana.
Vos, L. (2006). Dissertation study at the postgraduate level: A review of the literature. York:
The Higher Education Academy.
Xie, J. (2017). Evaluation in moves: An integrated analysis of Chinese MA thesis literature
reviews. ELT 10 (3), 1-20
Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Zaporozhetz, L. E. (1987). The dissertation literature review: How faculty advisors prepare their
doctoral candidates, PhD Thesis, University of Oregon.
Zhang, V. Z. & Hyland, K. (2018). Student engagement with teacher and automated feedback on
L2 writing. Assessing Writing, 36, 90-102.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Prof. J. B. A. Afful, Dr. R. S. Ngula, Dr. Rita Twumasi, Mr. Gabriel Tetteh, Mr. Frank Mensah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.