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

Applications
1
Ask your student to look at the criteria on pp.17–18 and in Table
1.3 and discuss how each of these impacts on how they will carry
out and write up their research.
2
The following are quotes from studies which have looked at thesis
examination. Ask your student to read these quotes and to discuss
what they mean for the writing of their thesis.

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Overview of the book
This chapter has provided a background to thesis and dissertation writing as
well as introducing a number of issues that are of particular relevance to sec-
ond-language thesis and dissertation writers. It has discussed the social and
cultural contexts of thesis and dissertation writing and factors within this
context that impact on the writing of the student’s thesis and dissertation. It
has discussed the relationship between thesis writers and readers, including
what examiners expect to see in a successful student text. It has also discussed
disciplinary differences in thesis and dissertation writing, as well as
approaches to knowledge at different levels of study. Cross-cultural issues and
writer identity in thesis and dissertation writing have also been discussed. A
number of these themes will be taken up in greater detail further in the book.
The next chapter of the book discusses what it means to be a non-native-
speaker research student in an English-medium university. It looks at
definitions of the ‘non-native-speaker student’ and the challenges that face
non-native-speaker students in this role. It discusses, in more detail, cross-
cultural communication problems between non-native-speaker students and
their supervisors as well as suggesting strategies for dealing with these. It also
offers suggestions for ways in which supervisors can help support non-native-
speaker students in learning to become successful research students and thesis
or dissertation writers.
20
Introduction
A research thesis ought to:
●
be a report of work that others would want to read;
●
tell a compelling story articulately whilst pre-empting
inevitable critiques;
●
carry the reader into complex realms, and inform and educate
him/her;
●
be sufficiently speculative or original to command respectful
peer attention.
(Winter et al. 2000: 32–35; Mullins and Kiley 2002: 372)
One of the common descriptors of a poor thesis, across all disci-
plines, was ‘sloppiness’. Sloppiness might be demonstrated by
typographical errors, or mistakes in calculations, referencing or
footnotes. The concern with sloppiness was that examiners consid-
ered it was an indication that the research itself might not be
rigorous and the results and conclusions could not be trusted.
(Mullins and Kiley 2002: 378)

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Note
1  The terms ‘thesis’ and ‘dissertation’ are used in different ways in different parts of the world.
In this book, the term ‘dissertation’ is used for undergraduate and master’s degrees and ‘the-
sis’ for doctoral degrees.
Introduction
21

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The first language of many international candidates is not English and
this adds to the time and effort supervisors in all disciplines put into ver-
bal communication and candidates’ written work. Supervisors are
additionally burdened both by their knowledge of the distinct linguistic,
cultural, familial and professional pressures that international candidates’
circumstances exert on the candidate, and by perceived financial pres-
sures from universities to take on increasing numbers of full-fee-paying
international candidates.
(Sinclair 2005: 19)