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Building a Thesis

by Jim Smiley

Published by Perceptia Press, Nagoya & Brighton

1st Edition First Printing Printing: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN978-4-911164-08-2

Book Code: 101–E260

Download the latest version of the teacher’s guide, complete with great free resources for the classroom at the Perceptia Press website: www.perceptiapress.com

Send suggestions or feedback to: feedback@perceptiapress.com

About the author

Dr Jim Smiley holds a doctoral degree in Higher Education from the University of Liverpool. His specialism is epistemic cognition, the ﬁeld of educational psychology that investigates human knowing processes. He researches Japanese undergraduates’ epistemic cognition of academic thinking. Smiley also has a Master’s degree in Historical Musicology from King’s College, University of London and an undergraduate degree in music performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.

Acknowledgements

This book is dedicated to my students. The cliché about their importance is happily repeated; over the years, my students’ enthusiasm, dedication, and warm-heartedness have encouraged me to produce the best pedagogy I can for them. Quite possibly, I ask too much of them, but without fail, their response lets me know I cannot work without them, as their development requires my efforts. Thank you, students.

Credits

Creative Commons: p16 Support Tattoos and Piercings at Work; p69 Douglas N. Walton

Introduction to Thesis Writing 1

Course Objectives

➨ This book shows you how to write a thesis. By the end, you will:

w know the nature and scope of an undergraduate thesis;

w have studied the structure of actual theses;

w understand the purposes and typical contents of each chapter of a thesis;

w be able to distinguish between a research question and data collection questions;

w know about the main undergraduate research types, including quantitative (number-based) and qualitative (word-based)

w be able to distinguish between four types of reading;

w know about the basics of mixed-methods research;

w have practised thematic coding;

...and much more!

Steps in the Research Process

➨ Here are ten major steps in the research process. Put them into the correct order.

Step

a. create a question within the topic

b. create a way to answer the question

c. analyse the data

d. identify a topic

e. discuss what the answer means

f. use the analysis to answer the main research question

g. collate the gathered information into a form that can be analysed

h. identify a subject

i. select ways of gathering information to answer the subquestions

j. create subquestions for the main question

Reﬂection

Number

➨ In the table above, are any concepts unfamiliar or uncertain, e.g., the difference between subject and topic? With a partner, identify at least two concepts. Research their meanings, then report back to the class.

Concept 1: ( )

Concept 2: ( )

The Logic of Research

➨ Look again at steps b and i in the table on the previous page: (b.) create a way to answer the question (i.) select ways of gathering information to answer the subquestions.

Why are both question and subquestions there? What is the difference between them? The answer lies in the difference between research and learning (or study).

Researchvs.Learning

➨ Read these phrases. Which belong to research and which to learning? Circle R(esearch), L(earning), or B(oth).

Item

Purpose to create new knowledge

Objective

to understand a concept better

Method uses techniques such as reading for information gathering, remembering, or analysing existing information

uses experiments, surveys and other structured methods

Goal to gain knowledge or skills

to create new ideas or solutions to problems

Depth involves careful planning

from simple reading for information to deep exploration of a topic

Publication no ofﬁcial publication; between student and teacher

from being stored in university libraries to international journals

Impact can be major

has a personal meaning within one’s study

This activity helps show the critical difference between research and learning. The basic rule is:

w It is not considered research if a question can be solved by ﬁnding the answer in a book.

Conducting research means reading resources. While much information can be obtained from existing texts, genuine research consists of creating a new question and ﬁnding ways to answer it.

Real Research or Not?

➨ Read the following scenarios. With a partner, decide if each represents real research or not.

1. Mark read Alice Walker’s The Color Purple , about an African-American woman who experienced racism, sexism, and other problems. Mark noticed that quilts were often used to represent unity in the novel. He researched this by reading scholarly books on quilts in the novel “The Color Purple .” He found many sources showing the meaning of “quilt” in the novel. His ﬁnal thesis summarised these sources and the importance of quilt symbolism in the novel.

2. Megan had a study abroad trip to Italy during high-school. She loved Italy—its architecture, food, and music. She believed its culture was shaped by Catholicism, so she researched its history in Italy and its inﬂuence on great works of art. Her thesis argued that Italy’s art was the result of Catholicism.

3. Richard was concerned about the negative effects of cultural appropriation. He studied the topic and discovered that scholars (though not ordinary people on the Internet) agreed it involved power. When a powerful culture used things from a minority culture, the latter’s meanings and uses were often ignored. Richard wondered if this was the same in a country like Japan, a powerful culture, using the cultural things from English-speaking countries. He created a survey using common English cultural objects, such as Halloween and Christmas, and studied how 33 Japanese people felt about using Western objects in Japan. He also interviewed six of the participants. His thesis analysed their responses and concluded that, in general, Japanese people consider using foreign cultural things as entertainment and personal learning.

4. Kim planned to be a French language teacher after graduation and was interested in promoting her own ﬂuency in speaking French. The schools where she was going to work used their own textbooks, but Kim felt these focussed on grammar too much and wondered if they would promote ﬂuency or not.

For her thesis, she studied Dual Process Theory, whose basic idea is that there are two systems in the mind: one for quick, automatic processing and another for slow, algorithmic processing. Using this system, she analysed each activity in the textbook and found that most activities were based on slow, algorithmic learning. Her thesis concluded that the textbooks would not promote ﬂuency.

From these brief scenarios, can you infer the research process? Review the table above. Which piece of information in the scenarios maps onto each of the steps in the research process?

Everything is Connected

The word thesis means both the document (the ﬁnal paper) and the central point or claim used to structure it. It requires a main argument to which every other statement is connected. A thesis is not an extended essay.

The Five-Paragraph Essay

The notion of connection is easily seen in The Five-Paragraph Essay structure. This is unsuitable for longer academic papers, but it illustrates how every statement in an essay connects to the main point.

Paragraph 1

Thesis statement

Aspect 1 Aspect 2 Aspect 3

Topic Topic Topic

Paragraphs 2–4 sentence sentence sentence supporting supporting supporting information information information

Paragraph 5 Concluding paragraph threeconsistingof aspects

each aspect gets its own paragraph

The table and ﬁgure above illustrate the ﬁve-paragraph essay. Note how every sentence connects to the thesis statement. A thesis carries a similar meaning; however in this case, the term thesis also contains the notion of something unknown being investigated.

Write a Five-Paragraph Essay

➨ With a partner, match the thesis statements with their aspects.

Thesis Statements

1. Learner anxiety can adversely affect second language development. ...

2. Understanding the role that culture has in second language learning is vital because...

3. The experience of a study-abroad programme is an excellent way to develop second language proﬁciency...

4. Learners of a second language should embrace technology because...

Aspects

a. immediate access to second language culture / daily practice of target language / opportunities for authentic communication

b. access to resources / makes ﬁnding communication partners easy / many apps for self-study

c. impacts learner conﬁdence / motivation / potentially reduce engagement

d. helps learners understand communication styles / develop idiomatic language / learn more authentic interaction patterns

➨ Now select one and craft a ﬁve-paragraph essay using the information given. Label each paragraph with its purpose. Here is an example:

e.g., Motivation plays an important role in second language learning. . .

inﬂuences learner effort, persistence, and engagement with the second language

Motivation in Second Language Learning

John Doe, IF007 Academic Writing

[Thesis statement] Motivation is a key factor in determining the success of learning a second language. [Three aspects] This essay explores how motivation plays a vital role in [A1] infuencing the amount of effort learners put in to language learning, [A2] how much learners persist in maintaining their study habits, and [A3] how it infuences what kinds of engagement learners have in the second language.

[Aspect 1. Topic sentence] Levels of motivation to learn a second language signifcantly infuence the effort learners exert in the learning process. When motivated, learners are more likely to dedicate greater time and energy to studying, practising, and using the target language. Conversely, learners with low levels of motivation often put in only the minimum amount of effort to pass tests.

[Aspect 2] Persistence is the ability to continue studying and practising even when things do not proceed smoothly in the learning process. [Topic sentence] High levels of persistence enable learners to overcome obstacles to learning, while low levels lead to learners simply giving up. As language learning entails much time and contains many challenges, persistence is an essential aspect of the process.

[Aspect 3] Putting in energy and fnding ways to overcome obstacles are necessary. [Topic sentence] However, the type of engagement a learner has with the second language is also an important factor in their success. Deep engagement with the second language may include watching movies, listening to music, and doing other activities because of a genuine interest in the linguistic, cultural, and enjoyable aspects of the second language. Shallow engagement is generally limited to the tasks given to the learner and associated with passive learning.

[Conclusion] For these reasons, motivation is a central factor in learning a second language, with levels of each aspect correlating highly with the degree of success or failure of learning. A high amount of effort is necessary because learning a second language can be tough. This leads to the necessity of persistence to overcome challenges and obstacles. Finally, the type of engagement used by learners infuences their enjoyment and depth of learning the second language.

[Comment] High levels of all three aspects are likely to lead to success in learning a second language, but if a learners who does not have these aspects of motivation is likely to have a diffcult time.

➨ In pairs, discuss these questions.

Reﬂection

1. What is the topic of your graduation thesis?

2. Which aspect of this unit surprised you the most?

3. Which aspect of this unit was the most challenging and why?

4. What challenges do you expect to encounter during your thesis writing experience? How can you reduce the difﬁculties?

The Introduction 2

Introduction or Not?

➨ Here is a list of content typically found in a thesis. Which should be in the Introduction?

Content

1. a problem statement

2. a research question

3. an extensive background to the problem

4. a discussion of the methodology

5. an analysis of the main argument

6. a background to the history of the issue

7. a description of how data is collected

8. an abstract

9. a full history of the topic

10. a summary of the ﬁnal conclusion

➨ Share your answers with a partner.

Common Errors

When drafting a thesis, there are two common errors. The ﬁrst is to describe the background or history of the topic. The second error is to use chapter 1 to describe the research plan, often in great detail.

As you work through this unit, note the internal logic of a research paper. As in the ﬁve-paragraph exercise, only include information directly related to the research question (or the thesis statement in the ﬁve-paragraph essay).