3. Literature Review (2,000 words) 35% A good literature review is based on three foundations: • a good research question; • a relevant collection of literature, and • skills of smart reading and...

3. Literature Review (2,000 words) 35% A good literature review is based on three foundations: • a good research question; • a relevant collection of literature, and • skills of smart reading and writing, identifying findings of your selected literature and describing these findings to contextualise your search question. Paradox: In order to decide what literature to review, one will need a few questions to draw boundaries of one’s research area. But research questions are generated from one’s familiarity with the existing literature of one’s chosen topic. A few tips: • think of a research topic you are interested in; • generate a few research questions from your topic; • do a library search to see if you can find answers to your questions; • if not, collect relevant literature by searching and downloading journal papers; • identify thesis statements or/and findings in these papers: pay attention to abstracts (read smartly, and annotate conscientiously and purposefully); • clearly identify what you think is a gap in the existing research; • describe your thought in a way that justifies your research aim; and finally check whether your research question(s) will fill your identified research gap. Your written Literature Review should include the following: A title o Indicate a research area and state your research question o Introduction (200 words) o Briefly state the purpose and structure of your Lit Review. Body (1,500 words) o Organise your review of the literature either by topic, theme, historical background, or theories; o Critically evaluate your selection of the literature by describing findings and limitations of this research; o Inform your readers how your research question is derived from your selection of literature; and o state in what ways your research will contribute to the existing knowledge. Conclusion (300 words) o Summarise the main points of your analysis of your selected literature; o One or two sentences on the significance of your research. References o Minimum 10 entries o You can use either Chicago Style Sheet, APA, or MLA, but you must be consistent in your choice of style both in the in-text referencing and the Bibliography.