Writing a Literature Review

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Writing a Literature Review Pre-writing to
Drafting

• By
• Bárbara Noel

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The Writing Process

• Has stages that are cyclical or recursive.
• Experienced writers often move between these
  stages (you may already do this) simultaneously.
• Beginning writers and L2 writers often benefit
  from breaking down each stage into smaller, more
  identifiable pieces.

conferring
Publishing
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Prewriting

• Generating ideas
• Searching for Sources
• Organizing information in a useful manner

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Drafting

• Quickly writing down a stream of ideas and
  getting them on paper.
• The focus is not on form or presentation.
• This provides the raw material or the lump of
  clay to begin forming a beautiful finished piece.

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Revising

• This is where the writer
• adds detail
• more clearly explains an idea
• takes out unnecessary information
• Rearranges pieces to fit together better
• The raw material begins to take shape.

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Editing

• Here the writer works on
• Spelling
• Grammar
• Punctuation
• The formed material gets nudged, tweaked,
  tightened, chopped, smoothed and polished.

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Publishing

• Writers send their work in to be published.
• Read their work to an appreciative audience.

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Conferring

1. Through each step in the process, the writer
   should work with a peer
2. Prewriting brainstorming
3. Drafting reading aloud and receiving initial
   reactions
4. Revising asking (who, what, where, when, why,
   how) questions for clarification
5. Editing two sets of eyes find more errors.
6. Publishing celebrate!

Conferring
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Pre-Writing for a Literature Review

• Choosing one area of focus
• Developing a question to research
• Writing a reflective memo
• Searching for literature
• Reading on the topic
• Taking notes and summarizing
• Writing a Reflective Memo
• Forming a Literature Matrix
• Creating an outline

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Literature Review

• Create a matrix of studies to variables

2. Create a brief summary of each variable.
3. Create an outline of variables studies with
APA style citation (Name, year)

• 4. Write a draft which is a review of the
  studies that support important variables that
  emerge.
• Compare/Contrast studies
• Note which studies are newer/older than others to
  see changing trends.

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Literature Review Matrix

1. Write the authors titles down the first column.
2. Write variables that are considered in the
   studies across the top. (Start with the main
   variables, and then continue adding if new ones
   arise.)

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Literature Review Matrix
3. Mark and X under the variables that were
considered in each study.
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Look For Patterns

• Look at Matrix What patterns are there?
• What variables are considered by most/few
  studies?
• Which studies considered each variable?

• Look at Year of Studies
• Which studies came first for that variable?
• Which followed?

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2
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Study Summaries
1

• Quickly write 3-4 sentences summarizing the
  importance of each study. Be sure to include
  answers to the following questions
• Who did the research? (Author, year of
  publication)
• What was the research study about? What did the
  researcher DO?
• When, where, about whom was the study performed?
• Why was the research done?
• What were the findings conclusions of the
  study?
• This will help you later with the body of your
  literature review.

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Variable Summaries
2

• Quickly write 1-2 sentences about the importance
  of each variable based on all the research
  studies regarding that variable.
• This will help you later with your introduction
  to that variable within your literature review.

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Outlining

• After your Research Study Summaries, Variable
  Summaries, and Literature Matrix are done, you
  are ready to outline your paper.
• Look for common sub topics among the studies you
  read.
• Read over your summaries for each variable
• Outline a paragraph about the studies in each
  sub-topic. (see example)

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Sample Paragraph Outlines
Variable

• Subtopic 1 Repetition through songs as tools for
  learning language patterns.
• Blodget (2000) found
• Songs help memorization.
• The role of memorization is a LLS (Language
  Learning Strategy) that is taken for granted.
• Danielson (2002) studied the importance of
  nursery rhymes for expanding vocabulary and
  language patterns.

Study 1
details from summary
Study 2
details from summary
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Sample Paragraph Outlines
Variable

• Subtopic 2 Preservation of socio cultural
  patterns and songs.
• Soh (1995) found
• Songs help children understand different
  backgrounds, values and socio cultural patterns.
• Social competence can be developed through the
  use of songs if they are included in the
  curriculum.
• Sirinides (1997) studied
• the importance of songs in the oral tradition for
  ethnic groups in the task of preserving their
  cultural background and history.

Study 1
details from summary
Study 1
details from summary
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Sample Paragraph Outlines

• Subtopic 3 Relationship between specific
  learning styles and the use of songs.
• Condis (2000) found
• Kinesthetic children would respond to the
  language that is communicated through body
  movements or gestures, or the language found in
  songs that use certain kind of performance or
  finger plays.
• Zimmermann (2006) studied that
• the musical skills are better learned
  inductively, after students are allowed to
  experience and enjoy the music as a whole
  entity. That is to say that the students explore
  the music in their learning preferences before
  they are focused on the linguistic component of
  the song.

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Later Example of a Paragraph for One Variable
variable
Introductory Sentence the summary of the
variable
Summary of study
Summary of study
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After finishing the outline for each sub-topic.

• Now you have information on what to introduce.
• Focus on outlining the Introduction.

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Introduction

• Now that you can see your sub-topics take shape
  you can outline the introductory section.
• Begin outlining the first paragraphsee the
  format on thenext slide.

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Introduction

• Paragraph level outline
• First paragraph
• Hook- something to make your readers want to read
  your analysis (short account of an important
  moment that made you interested).
• Example I have often wondered why students
  resist writing a lit. review as though they were
  being pushed to walk the dry, hot Sahara desert
  barefoot.

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Introduction

• First (or Second) Paragraph
• State your research question.
• Example Due to the confusions I had in my
  practice, I decided to study the following
  question What are the areas of resistance to
  writing a literature review and what
  instructional activities help students move along
  the process?

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Introduction

• Third (or Fourth) Paragraph
• Show the general variables that are related to
  the question and the general conclusions that
  have been identified in the research literature.
• Example I found four areas of study on this
  subject.
• Some studies analyzed the role of
• Other studies focused on the effects of
• Yet others looked at the importance of
• Lastly another group of studies analyzed how

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Concluding Paragraph

• Now you are ready to outline your concluding
  paragraph
• Summarize the various sub-topics
• Discuss any gaps in the research
• Show how your study fits or connects with the
  other studies.

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Putting sections together

• Place the introductory section before the body
  (sub-topic outlines)
• Read over your outline
• Move paragraphs around and/adjust them so they
  make more sense to the reader.
• Share your outline with 3 peers to get advice.
• Add, change or delete items in the outline based
  on peer advice.
• Read over your outline again to double-check.

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Drafting

• Now that you have your outline and you have
  reviewed it you are ready to write.
• Look at your outline beginning with the
  introduction.
• Start filling in the paragraphs based on the
  outline.

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Sample Introduction

• Outline
• Topic Sentence
• Language learning takes time and language
  patterns are needed.
• Teachers need to give students tools for
  learning.
• Richards and Platt (1992) learning strategies as
  tools.
• Music is a tool for learning.
• Role of music in learning is topic of the study.

Hook

• Draft First Paragragh
• Learning a language is a process that takes
  several years and due to this fact, learners
  might not have the ability to store all the
  language patterns. As teachers, we have the
  responsibility of giving our students tools that
  will help them remember in an effective and fast
  way the language they need to communicate.
  According to Richards and Platt (1992) learning
  strategies are "intentional behavior and thoughts
  used by learners during learning so as to better
  help them understand, learn, or remember new
  information." This is the reason why in this
  paper the role of music as a learning strategy
  for young learners will be investigated, because
  music is an important source for repetition and
  it also helps preserve the cultural background of
  the cultures (Sirinides, 1997).

Area of Focus
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Second Paragraph
Here the author inserts parts of her reflective
memo.

• I hold the educational value that children need
  to learn how to give complete sentences to
  questions when they are asked to in a second
  language. I believe so because in the institution
  that I work for, the system of evaluation and the
  outcome of the tasks to be done in class require
  the students to come up with the structures of
  the target language (English) learned during a
  Unit. My job is to prepare the students for the
  tasks and the exams which are both oral and
  written. One of my biggest concerns was to notice
  that students came to class and they did not
  remember what was learned the previous class.
  Leaving homework was not enough to help them
  remember. During the week, my students go to
  school and have several other activities. It
  seems that they only have the possibility to
  study before the class starts (on Saturdays at 2
  pm.) Because all of this, it is important for me
  to know how I can help my students give complete
  questions and answers using the patterns learned
  in the lesson and remember them for a long term.

Area of Focus
Here she justifies the reason for her studyshe
says why the study is important.
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Third paragraph

• As my main objective is to help my students
  recall easily the information they are getting
  every class period, I decided to implement the
  songs that come in the book we use in the class
  in the lessons in a more active role. The reason
  why I chose the songs to achieve my goal is
  because I noticed that the children always waited
  for the song to be played so that they could sing
  it along using the lyrics from the books. I also
  started taking puppets to the class so that they
  could perform the song and even sing them with
  funny voices. I think that this is a helpful tool
  to better the level of English of my students,
  but I still need to know how songs (music) help
  elementary ESL students improve their language
  proficiency, since the adaptations of the songs I
  have used are still very simple, and with time,
  they will become repetitive and less meaningful
  to my students.

Research Question
Here she describes the situation she wishes to
change. This comes from her reflective memo.
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Fourth paragraphtransition

• Having this question as a starting point for my
  research, I explored several studies on this
  subject. I found research papers that addressed
  some of the areas concerning this topic. Some
  studies focused on describing the issue of
  repetition through songs as tools for learning
  language patterns. Other studies analyzed the
  importance of songs in the preservation of socio
  cultural patterns. Finally, another group of
  research papers looked at the relationship
  between specific learning styles and the use of
  songs in classrooms.

Variables that are related to the question
Missing General conclusions that have been
identified in the research literature.
Here the author creates a transition from
introduction to the sub-topics.
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Sub-topic Paragraphs

• Provide a strong topic sentence.
• Example One possible explanation to .. Is to
  look at the influence of.. The following studies
  looked at the variable.
• Draft
• One possible explanation to the important
  role music has on learning is to look at the
  influence of learning strategies in language
  acquisition. Condis (2000), found that
  kinesthetic children would respond to the
  language that is communicated through body
  movements or gestures, or the language found in
  songs that use certain kind of performance or
  finger plays. This is evidence of the way in
  which learning styles examples of a type of
  learning strategy.

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Sub-topic Paragraphs

• Provide strengths and weaknesses of the studies.
• Example
• Blodget (2001) based his study on two older
  students that were in middle school. More studies
  would need to be done to see if this pattern
  holds true with larger student samples in various
  settings and age groups. Danielson (2002) studied
  300 pre-schoolers in a rural setting. However, it
  would be interesting to find out if a wider range
  of student ages in especially urban settings
  would yield the same results. There is not enough
  evidence yet to make definitive statements based
  on these studies until they are replicated.

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Sub-topic Paragraphs

• Use transition words to connect ideas between
  sentences and between paragraphs.
• Example
• Blodget (2001) based his study on two older
  students that were in middle school. More studies
  would need to be done to see if this pattern
  holds true with larger student samples in various
  settings and age groups. Danielson (2002) studied
  300 pre-schoolers in a rural setting. However, it
  would be interesting to find out if a wider range
  of student ages in especially urban settings
  would yield the same results. There is not enough
  evidence yet to make definitive statements based
  on these studies until they are replicated.

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Transitions when you compare/contrast
Hogue, A. (2003). The essentials of English A
writers handbook. NY Longman
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Finish Drafting..

• Finish drafting the entire paper.
• Type up your list of references
• Refer to the APA style slide show and Reference
  Worksheet
• Print out your draft and reference list to share
  when you confer with your peers.

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Reference Page

• Type references on a separate page.
• Put references in alphabetical order and in APA
  style formatting.
• Make sure that every citation has a reference and
  every reference has a citation. Only references
  that refer to a citation are included
• Check Formatting
• The title References is written on the top center
  of the page.
• All are double-spaced. References have a hanging
  indent.

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Reference Page

• Copy the references exactly from left to right
  from the Reference Worksheet onto your reference
  page. (Make sure that you copy every comma,
  period, etc.)
• Use your computer to make a hanging indent, and
  put the references into alphabetical order.
• Any missing information is not included.

Ovando, C. J., Collier, V. P. (1998). Bilingual
and ESL classrooms Teaching in multicultural
contexts. Boston, MA McGraw Hill.