Thesis and Dissertation Writing in a Second Language: a handbook for Supervisors

Attitudes to knowledge and different 
levels of study
A further useful topic to discuss with students is attitudes to knowledge,
learning approaches, and teaching and learning strategies at different levels
of study – also how these are often different in English-medium universities
from those in second-language-speaker students’ own counties. Ballard and
Clanchy (1984, 1997) discuss each of these, including how they change as
students progress in their studies. For example, the primary focus in an
English secondary school education is often ‘conserving’ knowledge
whereas, as a student continues on to tertiary studies, there is often a shift
to critiquing and ‘extending’ knowledge. This may entail a shift from a
focus on correctness, to ‘simple’ originality and, in turn, to ‘creative’ origi-
nality and the creation of new knowledge. Students, thus, often move from
summarizing and describing information, to questioning, judging and
recombining information, through to a deliberate search for new ideas, data
and explanations. Higher levels of study still expect correctness and the
recombination of information, however. They also often expect the creation
of new knowledge, and a search for new evidence and interpretations
(Ballard and Clanchy 1997).
Table 1.2 presents relationships between teaching and learning strategies
and attitudes to knowledge at different levels of study in English-medium
institutions. This figure is a useful starting point for a discussion with stu-
dents on these issues, including cross-cultural differences and expectations
at different levels of study. Ballard and Clanchy point out, importantly, that
the attitudes and strategies they describe are not fixed and static, but on a
continuum. In some courses, students vary in the strategies and attitudes to
knowledge that they adopt. Equally, the learning strategies students adopt
2
Ask your student to consider how these factors influence how they
write their text:
●
university expectations, conventions and requirements for the
thesis or dissertation;
●
the background knowledge, values, and understandings it is
assumed they will share with their readers, including what is
important to their readers and what is not.
3
Ask your student to discuss the differences between reporting,
paraphrasing and plagiarizing. Ask what strategies they use when
they are paraphrasing other writers’ work (see Bailey 2003: 21–22
for a useful activity on paraphrasing).

---

Table 1.1 The social and cultural context of theses and dissertations
Setting of 
The kind of university and level of study, the kind of degree (e.g.
the text
honours, master’s or doctoral, research or professional).
Study carried out in a ‘hard’ or ‘soft’, pure or applied, convergent or
divergent area of study (Becher and Trowler 2001).
Focus and 
Quantitative, qualitative or mixed method research.
perspective 
Claims that can be made, claims that cannot be made.
of the text
Faculty views on what ‘good’ research is.
Purpose of 
To answer a question, to solve a problem, to prove something, to 
the text
contribute to knowledge, to display knowledge and understanding,
to demonstrate particular skills, to convince a reader, to gain 
admission to a particular area of study.
Audience, role 
To judge the quality of the research.
and purpose  
Primary readership of one or more examiners, secondary 
in reading 
readership of everyone else who reads their work.
the text 
How readers will react to what they read, the criteria they will use
for assessing the text, who counts the most in judging the quality of 
the text.
Relationship 
Students writing for experts, for admission to an area of study (the 
between writers primary readership), students writing for peers, for advice (the 
and readers 
secondary readership).
of the text
Writer identity, authority and positioning.
Expectations,
An understanding and critical appraisal of relevant literature.
conventions 
A clearly defined and comprehensive investigation of the research topic.
and 
Appropriate use of research methods and techniques for the 
requirements
research question.
for the text
Ability to interpret results, develop conclusions and link them to
previous research.
Level of critical analysis, originality and contribution to knowledge
expected.
Literary quality and standard of presentation expected.
Level of grammatical accuracy required.
How the text is typically organized, how the text might vary for a