The aim is to overcome the opposition between theory and practice by attempting a chronological and developmental reading (Clot, 1999, pp. 114-119) of the two training mechanisms indicated: tutoring ...and the thesis (with its defence). Is it perhaps the thesis (the beginning of) a professional itinerary? For this purpose, data from anonymous questionnaires at the end of M2, work and interview reports are called up and inchoative elements are searched for through the identification of obstacles and concerns (Clot, 1999, pp. 56, 62-63, 119) in the link, or not, between the activities covered by the tutoring and the preparation of the thesis on the one hand and professionalism on the other hand.
Following a large body of research on metadiscourse in academic writing, this paper explores one feature of textual metadiscourse, code glosses, in English L2 academic texts written by Czech ...university students. The study draws on Hyland’s metadiscourse model (2005), which characterizes code glosses as devices that elaborate propositional meanings by rephrasing or explaining what has been said. Thus, they can help readers understand the writer’s intended meaning or contribute to the formation of persuasive arguments. The corpus consists of 48 English L2 Master’s theses representing three disciplines – linguistics, literature and English language teaching (ELT) methodology, totalling almost 950,000 words. The results are compared with professional writing represented by English L1 research articles from the same disciplines. The findings reveal differences in the frequency and functions of several code glosses, as novice writers are shown to overuse certain devices. The findings also indicate cross-disciplinary variation, as reformulation and exemplification proved to be much more prominent in linguistics and methodology than in literary studies.
While research on peer feedback in second language (L2) writing at university/college level has proliferated, scholars have conducted less research on peer feedback in L2 academic and scholarly ...writing. Drawing upon multiple sources of data including semi-structured interviews, stimulated recalls, online interviews via WeChat, first and revised drafts of master's theses, peer written feedback, audio-recordings of oral peer feedback conferences and the finalised master's theses, this case study examines how three master's students affectively, behaviourally and cognitively engaged with peer feedback on drafts of their thesis in a Master of Education programme at a Macau university. The findings show that the relationship between sub-constructs within each dimension and the relationships between the three dimensions of student engagement were interconnected in a dynamic and complex way. While there were individual differences among the three students' engagement, their affective engagement could promote or negatively influence their behavioural and cognitive engagement. This study builds our understanding of the multifaceted nature of master's students' engagement with peer feedback. It provides pedagogical implications about how peer feedback can enhance the quality of master's students' academic writing and sheds light on how to guide students to establish scholarly learning communities in higher education.
► Examines the use of direct quotations in master's theses written by L2 writers. ► Compares the use of direct quotations in high- and low-rated master's theses. ► Provides an account of student ...writers’ motivations to use direct quotation.
Using textual analysis and interviews with student writers, this study aims to provide an insight into second language students’ use of direct quotations in their MA theses by comparing direct quotations in high-rated and low-rated Master's theses, and by exploring student writers’ own motivations to quote directly from sources. The corpus consists of eight high-rated and eight low-rated Master's theses written in English in the field of gender studies by students from Central and Eastern Europe studying at an English-medium university in Central Europe. The findings show that high-rated theses display almost three times as many direct quotations per 1000 words as low-rated theses, which was found to be statistically significant. Differences are also evident in the type of quotations preferred: while high-rated theses primarily use quotation fragments (i.e., quotations shorter than a T-unit), low-rated theses rely on clause-based quotations, which do not require modification when quoted in a text. Interviews with student writers reveal the following motivations to quote directly from sources: (a) source-related motivations (e.g., vivid expression of an idea), (b) writers’ own goals (e.g., stylistic variety), (c) external factors (e.g., lack of time), and (d) students’ beliefs and fears (e.g., fear of plagiarism). The findings are discussed with reference to the development of student academic writing in the area of source use and citation. Pedagogical recommendations aimed at making students’ use of direct quotations more effective are also offered.
Across many years of teaching Research Methods and assessing many applications for admission into higher degree studies which require an understanding of theories, principles, strategies and skills ...needed to complete a higher degree such as a Masters or a PhD, one of the things I have found problematic for many students is the inability to articulate differences between theory, theoretical framework and a conceptual framework for a proposed research project. This paper uses experiential methodology to draw upon my experience in practice, and systematic literature review methodology to draw upon supporting scholarly literature by leaders in the field, to contribute to existing knowledge on the meaning of each of these concepts, and more importantly to distinguish between them in a study of Research Methods, and in particular as they relate to designing a research proposal and a thesis for a higher degree. The primary aim is to help the reader develop a firm grasp of the meaning of these concepts and how they should be used in academic research discourses. The review answers five questions. 1. What does each of these terms mean? 2. When and how should each be used? 3. What purposes does a theoretical framework serve? 4. How do you develop a theoretical framework for your research proposal or thesis? 5. What does a good theoretical framework look like?
An important component of fluent linguistic production is control of the multi-word expressions referred to as clusters, chunks or bundles. These are extended collocations which appear more ...frequently than expected by chance, helping to shape meanings in specific contexts and contributing to our sense of coherence in a text. Bundles have begun to attract considerable attention in corpus studies in EAP, although the extent to which they differ by discipline remains an open question. This paper explores the forms, structures and functions of 4-word bundles in a 3.5 million word corpus of research articles, doctoral dissertations and Master’s theses in four disciplines to learn something of disciplinary variations in their frequencies and preferred uses. The analysis shows that bundles are not only central to the creation of academic discourse, but that they offer an important means of differentiating written texts by discipline.
Our study contributes to the research on computer-mediated communication in higher education by experimenting a modern communication tool called Slack. In particular, we consider using Slack to ...support students’ peer interactions during Master’s thesis work. For this purpose, we designed a case study that was executed in a Master’s thesis seminar course. During the course, all out-of-class communication was carried out by using Slack, instead of e-mails or learning management systems. After the course, we used a questionnaire to investigate how the students perceived Slack for asking for assistance, their intention to use Slack, and Slack’s ease of use. Furthermore, the questionnaire asked feedback about challenges that the students found in slack. To examine the students’ peer support in Slack, we analysed the messages in the course’s public discussion channels. We investigated opportunities and challenges of Slack from instructional perspective by conducting an auto-ethnographic data collection. Our analysis revealed that the students perceived Slack as an easy-to-use communication tool with a low threshold of asking questions. The students also expressed high intentions to use Slack in the future. However, the students were worried of information overload in Slack, frustrated with decentralisation of communication tools in higher education, and cautious of using communication tools that are not officially supported by the university. The students’ interactions were assigned to three categories: practical, technical, and thesis-related. Analysis of these categories revealed that the students were able to explicate and solve issues in Slack, but the issues were only related to practical and technical problems, instead of actual Master’s thesis writing. The teacher perceived that Slack enhanced bi-directional communication with the students, but faced issues related to file management and user authentication. The results implicate that developing an alternative for Slack from educational premises could be more useful than a product that is not originally developed for pedagogical needs. Finally, we present recommendations that help educators to use Slack in their educational practices.
Background: The objective of this study is to demonstrate that the criteria of didactical suitability, proposed by the theoretical framework known as the Onto-Semiotic Approach (OSA) of mathematical ...knowledge and instruction, are powerful tools for organizing the reflection and assessment of instruction processes carried out by mathematics teachers. Material and methods: To this aim, the results of a multiple case study are presented Results: which prove that when teachers are faced with the task of evaluating processes of instruction, they employ-either implicitly or explicitly- the OSA criteria of didactical suitability (epistemic, cognitive, affective, mediational, interactional and ecological). Conclusions: Therefore, the explicit application of said criteria in teachers’ education cycles contributes to the development of the didactic analysis competence that is necessary for teachers to be able to reflect on their own practices.
PurposeDeveloping graduate students' academic writing has been a major concern for many scholars over the past few years. Existing literature on the challenges of thesis writing has not focused on ...master's students in English language teaching (ELT). Data on the challenges have been mainly gathered from the theses and focused on the structure and genre requirements. Few available studies have investigated such challenges through the lens of supervisors in an international context. Knowledge about the factors hindering the thesis writing process of non-native MA students in English from the supervisors' perspectives is scarce. This study attempts to fill these gaps by answering this question: From supervisors' perspectives, what factors hinder the thesis writing process of non-native MA students?Design/methodology/approachThirty supervisors from state and private universities across Iran voluntarily participated in this qualitative study. Drawing upon teachers' diaries and semi-structured interviews, the authors identified major factors negatively influencing the thesis work of master's students. Data were transferred into NVivo 10 and analyzed thematically following Colaizzi's method.FindingsThe study found that factors constraining students' writing were (1) students' lack of effort, (2) students' lack of a strategy for writing, (3) students' lack of autonomy and (4) students' absence of voice.Originality/valueThe authors discuss the practical implications of these factors for different stakeholders. There is a growing interest in postgraduate students' thesis writing processes. Surprisingly, no research exists on supervisors' perceptions of factors that constrain the thesis writing process of non-native English master's students.
► Activity theory used to examine influence of context on Master’s level writing. ► Introductory sections of Master’s theses compared with published texts in same field. ► Specific school based ...requirements influence rhetorical moves. ► Students emphasize their role as agents in their writing. ► Students assert their knowledge and stress their actions on prior knowledge.
This paper is a preliminary investigation into how the context of student life influences student writing. Specifically, activity theory is drawn upon to explore how the role of assessment affects students’ attempts to participate in knowledge-producing communities, a relatively under-researched aspect of student writing. To identify rhetorical characteristics characteristic to student writing, the introductory sections of master’s theses in the field of educational philosophy are compared with the introductory sections of journal articles published within the same discipline. The analysis is framed using
Samraj’s (2008) modification of Swales’ (1990) “Create-A-Research-Space” model for philosophy texts, and specific attention is paid to how students present themselves as agents through their use of inter-textuality and the use of the first-person pronoun. It is suggested that student writers represent themselves as
accomplishing more tasks, thereby asserting themselves as experts in ways published authors need not. Activity theory is used to link the distinctive rhetorical practices of student theses to the functions they serve in acadamic settings. As primarily a theoretical piece, this paper makes an argument in favour of a rhetorical, context-sensitive approach to the study of student writing. The texts analysed serve to exemplify the power and utility of this approach.
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