For your project, you are asked to provide a short review of the relevant literature. For the first 30 minutes of this workshop, we'll look at techniques for **finding information sources** for your literature review. But first, let's look at what a literature review is. ## **What is a Lit Review?** @[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry_54WleO7Y) "A literature review is an evaluative report of information found in the literature related to your selected area of study. The review should describe, summarize, evaluate and clarify this literature. It should give a theoretical base for the research and help you (the author) determine the nature of your research."1 1. Jesson, Jill, Lydia Matheson, and Fiona M. Lacey. Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2011. Print. # Finding information sources on language acquisition ## **Getting Started** **Handbooks and Encyclopedias** Once you've identified your topic, use handbooks and encyclopedias to get overview entries on your specific topic. These entries should have short lists for further reading which can guide you to key or critical sources on a topic. This is especially helpful when a topic is new to you - it's easy to get overwhelmed by search results when you are new to a topic. Some examples of online handbooks and encyclopedias relevant to this class: - [Oxford handbook of universal grammar][1] (2017) - [The Cambridge Handbook of Child Language][2] (2015) - [Encyclopedia of language development][3] (2014) - [The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Linguistics][4] (2016) **Existing literature reviews on your topic** Some databases include "literature review" as one of the limit options you can set before doing your search: your search will retrieve only literature reviews. In most databases, you will have to add a term for "literature review" to your search. You'll soon get to know the terms that your discipline uses for literature reviews, one or more of review article systematic review critical review literature bibliography meta-analysis, meta analysis re-analysis of data example: language acquisition nominal or pronoun or possessive catalan Look for databases in your discipline to search for scholarly articles Note the references used in the article Following Citation Trails or Citation Tracking " Common problems for students in writing their first literature review include a lack of synthesis (such as writing each paragraph about an individual study) and too many specific details from a given study (e.g., reporting sample size and coefficients). Consequently, the literature review often fails to adequately set up the hypothesis, methodology, and subsequent findings of the student’s capstone paper. To provide students with more guidance before having to write their literature # **Literature Reviews** **Content of the Review** Introduction The introduction explains the focus and establishes the importance of the subject. It discusses what kind of work has been done on the topic and identifies any controversies within the field or any recent research which has raised questions about earlier assumptions. It may provide background or history. It concludes with a purpose or thesis statement. In a stand-alone literature review, this statement will sum up and evaluate the state of the art in this field of research; in a review that is an introduction or preparatory to a thesis or research report, it will suggest how the review findings will lead to the research the writer proposes to undertake. Body Often divided by headings/subheadings, the body summarizes and evaluates the current state of knowledge in the field. It notes major themes or topics, the most important trends, and any findings about which researchers agree or disagree. If the review is preliminary to your own thesis or research project, its purpose is to make an argument that will justify your proposed research. Therefore, it will discuss only that research which leads directly to your own project. Conclusion Steps To Writing A Literature Review **1. Find a Working Topic** Look at your specific area of study. Think about what interests you, and what is fertile ground for study. Talk to your professor, brainstorm, and read lecture notes and recent issues of periodicals in the field. **2. Review the Literature** Using keywords, search a computer database. It is best to use at least two databases relevant to your discipline Remember that the reference lists of recent articles and reviews can lead to valuable papers Make certain that you also include any studies contrary to your point of view 3. Focus Your Topic Narrowly and Select Papers Accordingly Consider the following: What interests you? What interests others? What time span of research will you consider? Choose an area of research that is due for a review. 4. Read the Selected Articles Thoroughly and Evaluate Them What assumptions do most/some researchers seem to be making? What methodologies do they use? what testing procedures, subjects, material tested? Evaluate and synthesize the research findings and conclusions drawn Note experts in the field: names/labs that are frequently referenced Note conflicting theories, results, methodologies Watch for popularity of theories and how this has/has not changed over time 5. Organize the Selected Papers By Looking For Patterns and By Developing Subtopics Note things such as: Findings that are common/contested Two or three important trends in the research The most influential theories 6. Develop a Working Thesis Write a one or two sentence statement summarizing the conclusion you have reached about the major trends and developments you see in the research that has been done on your subject. 7. Organize Your Own Paper Based on the Findings From Steps 4 & 5 Develop headings/subheadings. If your literature review is extensive, find a large table surface, and on it place post-it notes or filing cards to organize all your findings into categories. Move them around if you decide that (a) they fit better under different headings, or (b) you need to establish new topic headings. 8. Write the Body of the Paper Follow the plan you have developed above, making certain that each section links logically to the one before and after, and that you have divided your sections by themes or subtopics, not by reporting the work of individual theorists or researchers. 9. Look At What You Have Written; Focus On Analysis, Not Description [1]: http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=8969921lysis, Not Description [1]: http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=8436042, Not Description [1]: http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=8436042 [2]: http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=8436042 [3]: http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=7587478 [4]: http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=9081157