AITA-IPSP Workshop #3

1. AITA-IPSP Workshop #3 Writing Your Literature Review AldaIsaia alda.isaia@aita-ipsp.org

2. The Literature Review Goals of the Workshop • To help you understand the purpose and basic requirements of an effective literature review. • To help you critically assess research materials. • To develop strategies for inventing, organizing, and drafting a literature review.

3. The Literature Review • What it isn’t: • Not an essay/paper (the Literature Review is part of the essay/paper) • Not state or prove your main points (that’s in the body of an essay) • a report (that summarizes articles and books about many different topics )

4. The Literature Review • What it is: • Major works (those works that have been published for your topic; surveys scholarly articles, books, and journals relevant to your narrow topic.) • Narrow topic • Reviewed

5. The Literature Review • Reviewed? • Snapshots (capture…) • Major concepts • Relationships (between snapshots) • Timeline

6. The Literature Review • Purposes: • Present the current statusof research on this topic • 1- Demonstrate knowledge • 2- Update reader • 3- Improve understanding

7. The Literature Review • Methods to achieve purpose of Literature Review: • a) highlight past research accomplishments • b) evaluate weaknesses of past research • c) group articles together on basis of approach

8. The Literature Review • Evaluate the Literature How do you know what literature to include?   Example: Sciences: recent information   Example: Humanities: survey of the history of X Questions to consider: • Has the author clearly defined the problem/issue? • Could the problem have been approached more effectively from a different perspective? • Does the author show bias? •  What is the author’s theoretical approach? •  How good is the study design? •  How valid are the results? •  Are there flaws in the logic of the discussion? •  How does the work contribute to the discipline’s understanding of the problem? • What problems has the author avoided or ignored?

9. The Literature Review • Techniques for organizing: • Chronological • Advancements • Geographical

10. Chronological: Characteristics • Lists studies in terms of chronological development • Useful when the field displays clear development over a period of time • Linear progression • Paradigm shift

11. Chronological: Typical Language • This subject was first studied by X, who argued/found… • In (date), Y modified/extended/contradicted X’s work by… • Today, research by Z represents the current state of the field.

12. The Literature Review • Writing process: • 1- Collect (databases, library) • 2- Analyze (skim, scan, read, select) • 3- Arrange (outline) • 4- Summarize (transitional connections)

13. The Literature Review • What can I write about? The context/background to my research • My research question is .... (50 words) • Researchers who have looked at this subject are .... (50 words) • They argue that .... (25 words) • Researcher A argues that .... (25 words) • Researcher B argues that .... (25 words) • Debate centers on the issue of .... (25 words) • There is still work to be done on .... (25 words) • My research is closest to that of Researcher A in that .... (50 words) • My contribution will be .... (50 words) (Murray 2002: 98)

14. TASKS OF LITERATURE REVIEW SUMMARIZE SYNTHESIZE CRITIQUE COMPARE Four Analysis Tasks of the Literature Review

15. The Literature Review

16. The Literature Review Sample Language for Summary and Synthesis • Normadin has demonstrated… • Early work by Hausman, Schwarz, and Graves was concerned with… • Elsayed and Stern compared algorithms for handling… • Additional work by Karasawa et. al, Azadivar, and Parry et. al deals with…

17. The Literature Review Comparison and Critique Evaluates the strength and weaknesses of the work: • How do the different studies relate? What is new, different, or controversial? • What views need further testing? • What evidence is lacking, inconclusive, contradicting, or too limited? • What research designs or methods seem unsatisfactory?

18. The Literature Review Tips for Success •   Look at other literature reviews in your area of interest or in the discipline •   Clarify the assignment with your instructor •   Keep track of sources •   Give yourself time for multiple drafts •   Have someone in your field read your lit. review

19. The Literature Review Citing Sources If it’s not your own idea (and not common knowledge)—DOCUMENT IT! • Paraphrase key ideas. • Use quotations sparingly. • Introduce quotations effectively. • Use proper in-text citation to document the source of ideas. • Maintain accurate bibliographic records.

20. The Literature Review Citing Sources: Things to Avoid • Plagiarism • Irrelevant quotations. • Un-introduced quotations.

21. The Literature Review: Language Thesis sample • As long ago as 1931, for example, Cattell asked 254 people, including directors of education, teacher trainers, schoolteachers and pupils, to write down the most important qualities of the good teacher. Overall, the five most frequently reported were (in order of frequency): _ personality and will _ intelligence _ sympathy and tact _ open-mindedness _ a sense of humor. (Kyriacou,C., 2009) • “ Effective teaching can be defined as teaching that successfully achieves the learning by pupils intended by the teacher. In essence, there are two simple elements to effective teaching: _ The teacher must have a clear idea of what learning is to be fostered. _ A learning experience is set up and delivered that achieves this.” (Kyriacou,C., 2009)

22. The Literature Review: Language

23. The Literature Review: Language

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27. The Literature Review: Language

28. The Literature Review: Language

29. Some Tips on Revising • Title: Is my title consistent with the content of my paper? • Introduction: Do I appropriately introduce my review? • Thesis: Does my review have a clear claim? • Body: Is the organization clear? Have I provided headings? • Topic sentences: Have I clearly indicated the major idea(s) of each paragraph? • Transitions: Does my writing flow? • Conclusion: Do I provide sufficient closure? (see p. 10) • Spelling and Grammar: Are there any major spelling or grammatical mistakes?

30. Writing a Literature Review:In Summary • As you read, try to see the “big picture”—your literature review should provide an overview of the state of research. • Include only those source materials that help you shape your argument. Resist the temptation to include everything you’ve read! • Balance summary and analysis as you write. • Keep in mind your purpose for writing: • How will this review benefit readers? • How does this review contribute to your study? • Be meticulous about citations.

31. The Literature Review • References Paltridge, B. & Starfield, S. (2007) Thesis and Dissertation Writing in a Second Language, A handbook for supervisors, 47- 48 Pennycook, A. (2001). Language and gender: a brief literature review. Available at http://ec.hku.hk/acadgrammar/litrev/main.htm Retrieved from: http://writingcenter.utah.edu/_docs/organization_693_1320713252.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK6Lsl1tcm0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoYpyY9n9YQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IUZWZX4OGI http://pwr.la.psu.edu/resources/graduate-writingcenter/handouts1/GWC%20%20Lit%20Review%20presentation%20Matt%20W.ppt/view