PART 2: WRITING THE

LITERATURE REVIEW
CHAPTER

LE QUANG DUNG, PH.D

WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
• A Literature Review Surveys scholarly articles, books, and other
sources (e.g., dissertations, conference proceedings) relevant to a
topic for a thesis or dissertation.
• Its purpose is to demonstrate that the writer has insightfully and
critically surveyed relevant literature on his or her topic in order to
convince an intended audience that the topic is worth addressing‖

• from Writing the Successful Thesis and Dissertation: Entering the

Discussion By Irene L. Clark
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
• WHY?
• To identify gaps in the research area
• To avoid inventing the wheel
• To continue from what others have completed.
• To know other people working in the field
• To measure the depth of knowledge of the subject.
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
How?
• Contextualize the student‘s research (The review may focus on
previous research on the topic, or it may focus on background
theory which is relevant to the project, or both).
• The review should describe and synthesize the major studies
related to the topic of the research
• It should also demonstrate the relationship between the student‘s
project and what else has been done in the particular area.
• A literature review should be right up to their date of examination
(the review of the literature is expected to be at a ‗state-of-the-art‘
level)
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
What needs to be included?
• An LR needs to focus on the major findings of the studies that are
reported on, when they were carried out and who they were carried
out by
• Reports on studies directly related to the student‘s project should be
discussed in more detail, including information about the
methodological approach used, data collected and analytical
procedures used on the study
• The LR also needs to include critical comment on these studies,
telling the reader which are the best studies, and why, rather than
just presenting factual information about the studies that are being
reviewed
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
In conclusion a LR should focus on;
• the key issues which underlie the research project;
• the major findings on the research topic, by whom and when;
• the main points of view and controversies that surround the issue
being investigated;
• a critical evaluation of these views, indicating strengths and
weaknesses of previous studies on the topic;
• general conclusions about the state of the art at the time of
writing, including what research still needs to be done; that is, the
gap that remains in the research that the study will aim to fill.
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
The LR may be arranged
• According to the various questions to be asked;
• according to the various topics and sub-topics that are central to the
study;
• according to the specific variables in the study;
• chronologically from oldest to more recent research;
• according to different points of view;
• or a combination of these.
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
Useful considerations when describing previous research
• Who carried out the research?
• Who were the subjects of the research?
• Why was it carried out?
• Where was it carried out?
• How was it carried out?
• When was the research published?
• What was the result of the research?
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
Steps and strategies for writing an LR
Steps Strategies
Locate relevant literature • Identify key authors and journals
• Use state-of-the-art articles
• Use computerized searches
• Use Google Scholar
• Scan tables of contents from key journals
• Use reference lists from articles, books and
chapters
• Read primary sources
• Avoid the popular press
Critically read the • Identify themes in the literature
literature • Identify strengths and weaknesses of
individual articles
• Identify strengths and weaknesses of the
field as a whole
• Collect photocopies of articles
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
Steps Strategies
Prepare to write • Investigate expected length and format of
the literature review
• Make a preliminary outline
• Organize the literature you will cover
• Limit the scope of the review to the topic at
hand
Write the review • Write the introduction
• Write sub-sections
• Use transition markers and meta-text
• Synthesize and critically evaluate the
literature
• Be careful not to plagiarize

Indicating the gap • Use the review to lead to your study and
research question/s
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
Three key ways of reporting on previous research
• Central reporting
• an author is directly reported as being responsible for a particular
finding or argument and placed in subject position in the sentence
• Non-central reporting
• an author is reported as being responsible for a particular finding or
argument but with their name being given less focus by being
placed in brackets at the end of the relevant statement
• Non-reporting
• the results of a piece of research are presented with less focus
being given to the author or the actual study and no ‗reporting
verbs‘ such as ‗claim‘ or ‗shown‘ are used
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
Examples
1. Burke (1986) discovered that many students would like to
become integrated into Australian society
Central reporting

2. It has been shown that students have often performed

successfully in their own education system before they seek entry
to the particular university (Ballard 1991)
Non-central reporting

3. Instead of motivation producing achievement, it may be

that achievement produces motivation (Spolsky 1989)

Non-reporting
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
Reporting verbs
• verbs which make a statement, such as ‗report‘;
• verbs which express, in a very general way, a writer‘s personal
judgment, such as ‗explain‘;
• verbs which express a writer‘s opinion, such as ‗argue‘;
• verbs which present a writer‘s suggestion, such as ‗propose‘;
• verbs which express some kind of disagreement, such as ‗doubt‘.
REPORTING VERBS
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
Choices of tense and reasons for their use

Present simple • a generalization is being made

• a reference is being made to the state of
current knowledge
• previous findings are being presented/are
accepted as facts

Simple past • a reference is being made to a single study

• a specific piece of research and its findings
are being referred to

Present perfect • a general area of investigation or inquiry is

being referred to
• a general statement is made about previous
research
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
Critiquing previous research
Some questions students may wish to consider in their reading and
critiquing of previous work.
• Is the research problem clearly stated?
• Are the variables clearly described and defined?
• Is the design of the study appropriate for the particular research
question?
• Are the research instruments appropriate for the particular study?
• Are the data analysis procedures appropriate for the particular study?
• Was the author consistent in the way they analysed their results?
• Are the conclusions, implications and recommendations warranted by
the results?
CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING RESEARCH PROPOSALS

Cadman, K. (2002)*
• the logic of the student‘s argument;
• a well-focused research question, set of research objectives, or hypothesis;
• the width and depth of the student‘s reading;
• the feasibility of the student‘s project;
• a critical approach to the literature;
• justification of the project through the literature;
• understanding of current issues on the student‘s topic;
• matching of methodology and methods to the research questions.

*English for academic possibilities: the research proposal as a contested site

in postgraduate pedagogy‘, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 1: 85–104