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

Social issues
The solitary nature of writing a thesis and its potential for isolation are well
known. As we have shown in Chapter 2, second-language students may be
particularly vulnerable in this regard, particularly if their isolation affects
their ability to receive and benefit from feedback during the process of writ-
ing. Shaw’s (1991: 193) findings as noted in the previous section show that
the second-language thesis writers he interviewed were not making use of
‘feedback from colleagues as a resource in the writing process’, either for
revising or for editing. What role does the supervisor have in providing a sup-
portive environment? Research indicates that peer support groups and group
feedback may indeed help not only with combating potential isolation but
also to assist with writing development. In a study of 45 doctoral students,
Caffarella and Barnett (2000) found that preparing critiques for their peers
and receiving critiques from professors and peers were the most significant
elements in helping them to understand the processes of scholarly writing
and in improving their academic writing. They conclude that although the
processes of learning to give and receive feedback may be stressful, the frus-
trations are outweighed by the benefits derived from participating in a
sustained writing development programme which incorporates instruction
on how to provide explicit feedback in conjunction with receiving feedback
from faculty members and fellow students.
Building a culture in your department or school in which PhD students
meet regularly and are encouraged to read and comment on short extracts
from one another’s work could be a valuable contribution to the writing
development of your students. Alternatively, as many universities now offer
thesis-writing courses via a centrally-based learning centre or writing centre,
recommend to your students that they attend such a course. Students will
then have the opportunity to engage with students from differing disciplines
or schools and will be able to talk to one another about their research and
Thesis writing in English as a second language
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