Writing Academic Research
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Date
2024
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Publisher
Université Mouloud Mammeri Tizi-Ouzou
Abstract
The course Writing Academic Researchis an advancedmethodology module designed for Master’sstudents in ForeignLanguageDidacticswho are preparingtheirMaster’s dissertations. It aims to developbothstudents’ researchcompetence and theiracademicwritingliteracy, enablingthem to produce a coherent, methodologicallysound, and academicallycredible dissertation.
The course begins by distinguishingbetweendoingresearch and writingresearch, emphasizingthatcollecting data and reportingit in an academictextrequiredifferent but complementaryskills. The Master’s dissertation istreated as an academic genre, followingSwales’s (1990) theory of genre as a sociallyrecognizedform of communication characterized by a specificcommunicative purpose, schematic structure, content, and style. Studentslearnthattheir dissertation must follow the traditional simple model (Introduction, LiteratureReview, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion), whichis the standard format required by the Department of English.
A core component of the course focuses on research planning, including the selection of a research topic, formulation of a researchproblem, definition of researchaims and objectives, and the choice of an appropriateresearch design (case study, survey, experimental, or interpretive). Following Creswell (2014) and Cohen et al. (2007), students are trained to ensurethattheirresearchissystematic, empiricallygrounded, and theoreticallyinformed.
Students are thenguidedthrough the writing of a researchproposal, whichincludes the title, background literature, objectives, methodology, significance of the study, and key references. Special attention isgiven to the rhetorical structure of the dissertation introductionbased on Swales and Feak’s (1994) Create-A-Research-Space (CARS) model, whichteachesstudents how to establish a researchterritory, identify a gap, and position theirownstudy.
Finally, the course developsstudents’ ability to write the main chapters of the dissertation, literaturereview, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion, and to use the APA referencing systemcorrectly, ensuringacademicintegrity, clarity, and scholarlycredibility.
Description
30 cm.; + (CD-Rom)
Keywords
Master’s Dissertation, Research Design, Academic Writing, Research Methodology
Citation
Foreign Language Didactics