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

Adjectives
controversial
questionable
incomplete
unconvincing
inconclusive
unsatisfactory
misguided
Noun phrase
Little information/attention/work/data/research
Few studies/investigations/researchers/attempts
No studies/data/calculations
None of these studies/findings/calculations
Other forms
However
It remains unclear
It would be of interest to

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As Swales and Feak (1994) point out, language which identifies weak-
nesses in the writing of others needs to be used with care. This is particularly
the case for thesis writers, who are students seeking to be accepted into a
community of scholars.
In Move 3 – occupying the niche – the writer, by outlining the purposes of their
own research, indicates to the reader how the proposed research will ‘fill’ the
identified niche or gap. In a thesis, the principal findings will frequently be
previewed and theoretical positions as well as methods used may be outlined. It
is here that the writer can signal the value or significance of the research (Move
3b). However, Move 3c, in which the overall structure of the thesis is pre-
viewed, including a mini-synopsis of each chapter, is considered obligatory.
This sub-move (3c) typically contains much metadiscourse. Metadiscourse
(also referred to as metatext) refers to discourse about discourse; how writers
talk about their writing and the structure of their writing, when they are not
talking about the content of their writing (Bunton 1999; Vande Kopple 1985).
In extended texts such as theses, metadiscourse plays an important role in that
it helps provide an overarching organizational scaffold for the thesis, and guides
readers (that is, the examiners) through the text, by frequent forward and back-
ward references and overviews. In fact, one of the significant differences that has
been identified between the journal article and the thesis is in the greater use
made of metadiscourse in the much lengthier thesis (Swales 1990).
Examples of metadiscourse are phrases such as ‘Chapter 2 examines’; ‘this
thesis argues that’; ‘the following section reviews’. Metadiscourse in the
Introduction is likely to take the form of forward reference to what is still to
come and to the overall structure of the thesis (Move 3c of our framework) but
may also be found in the writer’s development of the central argument of the
thesis. According to Bunton (1999), it is metadiscourse that refers to chapters
or to the thesis as a whole that is distinctive to the dissertation, as this type of
metadiscourse would not be found in a journal article. Bunton examined the
ways in which 13 PhD theses by Hong Kong research students used metadis-
course to ‘orient and guide their readers’ through their theses. All but one of the
theses previewed the entire thesis in their Introductions; that is, referred to the
thesis itself with expressions such as, ‘the focus of this thesis is on’; ‘the plan for
this thesis is’ (Bunton 1999: S48). However, only eight of the 13 previewed
each subsequent chapter. Bunton’s findings suggest that non-native speakers of
English may need to be encouraged to make greater use of previewing strategies
in their theses as a whole and specifically in their Introductions where they
should be encouraged to preview each of the subsequent chapters.
Much typical thesis metadiscourse is found in the language of Move 3 of our
framework: where the writer signals their ‘occupation’ of the niche established
in Move 2. The move will often begin with nouns that refer to the thesis or to
the research itself and will use verbs that refer to the research process, particu-
larly as the various chapters of the thesis are previewed. A sentence beginning
‘This thesis/study ...’ can be followed by any of the following verbs (and others
Writing the Introduction
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90
Writing the Introduction
not listed) depending on the emphasis the writer wishes to place or to vary the
language used: describes; develops; studies; discusses; examines; introduces;
aims (to); reports; explores; shows; focuses; presents (adapted from Atkinson
and Curtis 1998: 65). The verbs tend to be in the present tense as this makes
the research seems relevant and current (see Swales and Feak 1994).
Box 6.1 shows Move 3c – outline of following chapters – from a master’s the-
sis (White-Davison 1999). Words or phrases which refer to the thesis itself
and which function to preview later stages of the thesis are in italics, as are
verbs which refer to the research process.
Box 6.1 Language patterns in Move 3c