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

Conclusion
This chapter has discussed the writing of research proposals, an important
stage in the thesis and dissertation writing process. The proposal students
write becomes both a work plan for their further work and the basis of the
text that will eventually become their thesis or dissertation. Different institu-
tions place different levels of importance on the research proposal. While it
may take a lot of time to write the proposal, it is worth spending as much
time as is needed to get it right.
The proposal in the Appendix is an example of a proposal that a student
wrote at the beginning of her candidature. As she continued with her
research, her understanding of background theory became further developed,
as did issues of methodology and analysis. The final title of her thesis also
changed (to ‘Style choice and sentence final particles in Japanese: directing
interactions and constructing identity’) as her project became more refined
and more fully developed. This is very common and is something students
should be made aware of. The proposal is the students’ starting point in
what may be end up being a somewhat different project from where it
started. As Manalo and Trafford (2004: 76) observe, there are likely to be
many deviations from what the students initially propose, as they ‘make new
discoveries and encounter unforeseen challenges over the course of the thesis-
writing process’. The proposal is, however, a very important stage, ‘along the
dissertation road’.
Writing a research proposal
65
●
Locke et al. 2000. This book contains sample research proposals
for experimental studies, quasi-experimental studies and quali-
tative studies.
●
Paltridge 1997. This article describes a workshop aimed at
helping second-language students write research proposals.

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Introduction
Many second-language students are unaware of the recent evolution of thesis
and dissertation types and the options this provides for them. There is, for
example, an increasing number of qualitative and ‘non-traditional’ theses and
dissertations being written. These present particular challenges in terms of
how they should be written, as do theses and dissertations by publication. This
chapter provides supervisors with examples of thesis and dissertation types,
advice on guiding students with the overall structure of the thesis or disserta-
tion, and the drafting of chapter outlines. It also introduces the concept of
metatext, or ‘text about the text’, a key organizational tool for managing
extended texts and for helping the reader follow the organization of the text.