研究生学术英语写作教程Unit 3 Reviewing Literature

Unit 3 Reviewing Literature

Objectives:

- Learn how to formulate a research problem

- learn how to cite other people

?

s previous work

- Try to be critical and related in your reviewing

- Avoid plagiarism

Contents

- Reading and discussion: sample introduction and elements in literature review.

- Language focus: tense in citation and citing verbs

-

Writing

practice:

information

prominent

citation,

author

prominent

citation,

and

weak author prominent citation

- Literature reviews related to your research

- No plagiarism

- Classroom extension: literature review of the social effects of tourism on developing

countries

1.

Reading Activity

1.1 Pre-reading Task

A

literature

review

is

not just a summary of

what

you

have read. It

focuses on a

specific topic of

interest to

you and

includes a critical analysis of relationship among

different

opinions

and

then

relates

this

review

to

the

work

of

your

own.

It

may

be

written as a stand-alone paper or to provide a theoretical

framework and rationale

for

a research study to become a part of the introduction section, especially in term papers

or journal articles. However, in a thesis or dissertation it will be an entire chapter.

1

Read the sample introduction below and think about the following questions:

What is the purpose of writing a literature view?

What elements does an introduction include?

How do we relate other people?s previous work to our present research?

How do we cite other people?s previous work?

1.2 Reading Passage

Introduction

The

poor

have

traditionally

t

aken

the

brunt

of

the

blame

for

causing

society?s

many

problems

including,

more

recently,

environmental

degradation.

There

is

a

general

consensus

that

poverty

is

a

major

cause

of

environmental

degradation.

For

example,

in

one

of

the

conclusions

of

the

Bruntland

Commission

Report,

which

incidentally has been accepted as the blue print for environmental conservation, it was

explicitly

stated

that

poverty

is

a

major

cause

of

environmental

problems

and

amelioration of poverty is a necessary and central condition of any effective programs

addressing

the

environment.

Following

similar

lines,

Jalal

(2010),

the

Asian

Development

Bank's

chief

of

the

environment

department

says,

is

generally

accepted

that

environmental

degradation,

rapid

population

growth

and

stagnant

production are closely

linked

with

the

fast spread of acute poverty

in

many countries

of Asia

Report,

the

Bank

explicitly

stated

that,

“poor

families

who

have

to

meet

short

term

needs mine the natural capital by excessive cutting of trees for firewood and failure to

replace soil nutrients

”

(World Bank 2011).

However, there has been a rising

trend

in

the economic

literature which disputes

the

conventional

theory

and

argues

that

simple

generalizations

of

this

multi-dimensional problem are erroneous and that a more complex set of variables are

in play

(Leach and Mearns, 2012). These studies point to demographic, cultural, and

institutional

factors

as

important

variables

in

the

poverty-environmental

degradation

nexus.

An

intricate

web

of

factors

plus

the

existence

of

feedback

loops

from

environmental degradation to poverty makes the process of identifying causality links,

2

if any

, between environmental degradation and poverty a difficult exercise.

However,

these studies have been few and isolated and it is interesting to note that until recently

,

there

has been

very

little

in-depth coordinated empirical research

in

the economics of

environmental degradation- poverty causality relationships.

This

brings

to

the

purpose

of

this

study

.

Both

poverty

and

environmental

degradation

have

been

increasing

in

many

developing

countries;

hence

there

is

a

pressing

need

first

to

evaluate

and

analyze

the

poverty-environmental

degradation

nexus,

and

second,

to

prescribe

policy

options

to

mitigate

or

eradicate

these

two

problems.

The primary objective of

the paper

is to

analyze

critically

the existing

literature

on

the poverty-environmental degradation

nexus and try to

make

the chaos

limited to

the

following

four

main

natural

resources which are under serious threat of

degradation

in

many

developing

countries:

i)

forests;

ii)

land;

iii)

water;

and

iv)

air.

Biodiversity

is excluded

at

this point because the preliminary

literature search

found

only

scattered

and

inconclusive

information.

However,

it

should

not

be

inferred

that

biodiversity

is

less

important

than

the

four

resources

chosen;

indeed

it

is

an

area

which needs particular attention in the future.

Once

the

natural

resource

sectors

have

been

identified,

a

cause,

impact

and

feedback

analysis

is

carried

out.

In

this

manner,

we

hope

first

to

identify

the

main

agents and the degree of their contribution towards the destruction of the environment

and

second,

the

incentives

or

motivating

factors

encouraging

their

unsustainable

activities. The impact and feedback analysis should highlight the main impacts arising

from

the

degradation

activities

and

the

socio-economic

effect

these

impacts

have

across the various income groups in the economy.

1.3 Reading Comprehension

1.3.1 List different opinions on

poverty and environmental degradation

3

Bruntland

Commission

Report,

etc.

on

Leach and Mearns on the other side

the one side

1.3.2 Decide how many elements this sample includes and how they function.

Elements

Functions

2.

Language Focus

2.1

Tense in citation

Present tense -

Authors mostly use the present tense verbs to show their opinion

on another person's research, relate what other authors say or discuss the literature,

theoretical concepts, methods, etc. However, the simple past and present perfect are

also possible verb forms in this case. Look at these examples in the present tense:

Nelson (1995) remarks

?

Jones (2005) stresses

?

4

Morison (2000) advocates

?

Zhang (2007) claims

?

Zhambhi (2008) argues

?

Past

tense

-

When

you

use

the

past

tense,

the

reporting

verb

often

occurs

as

an

integral

citation.

In

other

words,

citations

with

past

tense

verbs

and

named

researchers

as

subject

seem

to

have

the

discourse

role

of

providing

particulars

for

recounting events, results found or a preceding generalization or the basis for a claim,

etc. In the example below, the citation reports the results of a single study.

Carlson

and

Benton

(2007)

found

that

as

they

increased

the

participants

?

stress

levels, the results of their performance deteriorated.

Common

verbs

in

the

past

tense

are:

investigated,

studied,

compared,

analyzed,

found, and examined.

Present

perfect -

The present perfect

tense

can be

used to state that the research

results are recent, expressing what has been found over an extended period in the past

and

up

to

the

present

to

highlight

the

direct

relevance

of

previous

studies

to

the

writer's own research. Look at the following example:

Although the results of pervious studies showed that further research was

warranted in this area, recent studies have demonstrated that educational methodology

is now moving in a new direction (Jones, 2007; Karstal, 2008).

2.1.1 Check the sample introduction and complete the following table.

Questions

How many?

For what purposes?

Are

some

sentences

written

in

present

tense?

Are

some

sentences

written in past tense?

Are

some

sentences

written

in

present

perfect tense?

Which

tense

is

used

more?

Why

do

you

think this is the case?

5

How

many

sentences

contain references?

2.2

Citing verbs

It

is

important that you

learn

how to cite

information

in a correct

way

. There are

certain conventions to

follow

when citing

someone?s

work. Words

like

“say”,

“

”,

and

“ask”

are

normally

used

in

oral

conversation

s

but

are

not

appropriate

in

formal

academic

writing.

The

following

table

illustrates

some

appropriate

words

to

use

for

reporting the work of others.

Verbs for

saying

claims

believes

thinks

assumes

indicates

Jalal (1993)

notes

that

…

remarks

states

shows

points out

More V

erbs for

saying

suggests

considers

hypothesizes

concludes

comments

emphasizes

that

…

Jalal

?

s (1993) study

illustrates

proposes

establishes

maintains

Verbs

responding

to

others

’

opinions

accepts

admits

agrees

that

…

The analysis of the Jalal

?

s report

doubts

6

denies

argues

comments

Verbs for

saying

a second time

asserts

explains

Jalal (1993) further/additionally

confirms

maintains

advocates

that

…

Poor patterns show that the writer has a mere grasp of the literature:

Jalal (1993) says that

…

The Asian Development Bank (1992) states that

…

Leach and

Mearns (1995) argue that

…

Better sample shows some critical thinking and sentence variety:

Jalal (1993) reports

that

his study of

…

shows

…

The

findings are supported by

the

Asian Development Bank

(1992) replication of

…

Although both

these studies

focus

on

…

. They have ignored

…

According to Leach and Mearns (1995),

…

2.2.2

Read

three

extracts

on

the

issue

of

poverty

and

crime.

Use

the

verbs

above

to

cite opinions on poverty and crime.

7