Chinese learner writers’ niche establishment in the Literature Review chapter of theses: A diachronic perspective

Abstract

Conducting innovative research often requires establishing and occupying a niche. In thesis writing, the Literature Review (LR) chapter generally involves the evaluation of previous research in order to establish and occupy that niche. As little empirical examination of the possible variations in learner writers' niche-establishment (NE) practices in a domestic context, during different periods in time, has been conducted, the present study aims to fill this gap. In total, 40 theses written in English by Chinese postgraduate students of linguistics and applied linguistics from the same university graduate program were selected from two periods of time: 1990–2000 (Period A) and 2005–2015 (Period B). It was found that the more recent learner writers were discursively more critical than their earlier counterparts. To account for this, we considered the cross-period differences in genre-specific academic training in general, and NE training in particular, which was offered by the university's graduate program, to be one of the most plausible factors.