How to Write a Literature Review ?
. The definition of Literature Review
文献综述（Literautre Review）是科研论文中重要的文体之一。它以作者对各种文献资料的整理、归纳、分析和比较为基础，就某个专题的历史背景、前人的工作、研究现状、争论的焦点及发展前景等方面进行综合、总结和评论。通过阅读文献综述，科研工作者可花费较少的时间获得较多的关于某一专题系统而具体的信息，了解其研究现状、存在的问题和未来的发展方向。
. The purposes of literature review And Its Components
A. The Purposes
On the one hand, it helps you broaden the view and perspective of the topic for your graduation thesis.
On the other hand, it helps you narrow down the topic and arrive at a focused research question.
B. Its Components
There are six parts in a complete Literature Review.
标题与作者(title and author)
摘要与关键词(abstract and key words)
引言(introduction)
述评(review)
结论(conclusion)
参考文献(references)
. Classification of Source Materials
How can we locate the materials relevant to our topics better and faster? Basically, all these source materials may be classified into four majors of sources.
A: Background sources:
Basic information which can usually be found in dictionaries and encyclopedia complied by major scholars or founders of the field. Three very good and commonly recommenced encyclopedias are encyclopedias ABC, namely, Encyclopedia Americana, Encyclopedia Britannica, and Collier’s Encyclopedia. There are also reference works more specialized, such as The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics for linguistics and TEFL studies. Moreover, you may also find Encyclopedia on the web.
B: Primary sources
Those providing direct evidence, such as works of scholars of the field, biographies or autobiographies, memoirs, speeches, lectures, diaries, collection of letters, interviews, case studies, approaches, etc. Primary sources come in various shapes and sizes, and often you have to do a little bit of research about the source to make sure you have correctly identified it. When a first search yields too few results, try searching by broader topic; when a search yields too many results, refine your search by narrowing down your search.
C: Secondary sources
Those providing indirect evidence, such as research articles or papers, book reviews, assays, journal articles by experts in a given field, studies on authors or writers and their works, etc. Secondary sources will inform most of your writing in college. You will often be asked to research your topic using primary sources, but secondary sources will tell you which primary sources you should use and will help you interpret those primary sources. To use theme well, however, you need to think critically them. There are two parts of a source that you need to analyze: the text itself and the argument within the text.
D: Web sources
The sources or information from websites. Web serves as an excellent resource for your materials. However, you need to select and evaluate Web sources with special care for very often Web sources lack quality control. You may start with search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, Ask, Excite, etc. It’s a good idea to try more than one search engine, since each locates sources in its own way. When using websites for information, be sure to take care for the authorship and sponsorship. If they are both unclear, be critical when you use information. The currency of website information should also be taken into account. Don’t use too out information dated for your purpose.
. Major strategies of Selecting Materials for literature review
A. Choosing primary sources rather than secondary sources
If you have two sources, one of them summarizing or explaining a work and the other the work itself, choose the work itself. Never attempt to write a paper on a topic without reading the original source.
B. Choosing sources that give a variety of viewpoints on your thesis
Remember that good argument essays take into account counter arguments. Do not reject a source because it makes an argument against you thesis.
C. Choosing sources that cover the topic in depth
Probably most books on Communicative Language Teaching mention William Littlewood, but if this your topic, you will find that few sources cover the topic in depth. Choose those.
D. Choosing sources written by acknowledged experts
If you have a choice between an article written by a freelance journalist on Task-based Teaching and one written by a recognized expert like David Nunan, Choose the article by the expert.
E. Choosing the most current sources
If your topic involves a current issue or social problem or development in a scientific field, it is essential to find the latest possible information. If all the books on these topics are rather old, you probably need to look for information in periodicals.
. Writing a literature Review
A. When you review related literature, the major review focuses should be:
1. The prevailing and current theories which underlie the research problem.
2. The main controversies about the issue, and about the problem.
3. The major findings in the area, by whom and when.
4. The studies which can be considered the better ones, and why.
5. Description of the types of research studies which can provide the basis for
the current theories and controversies.
6. Criticism of the work in the area.
B. When you write literature review, the two principles to follow are:
1. Review the sources that are most relevant to your to your thesis.
2. Describe or write your review as clear and objective as you can.
C. Some tips for writing the review:
1. Define key terms or concepts clearly and relevant to your topic.
2. Discuss the least-related references to your question first and the most related references last.
3. Conclude your review with a brief summary.
4. Start writing your review early.
. 文献综述主要部分的细节性提示和注意事项
主要部分细节提示：
引言(Introduction)
引言是文献综述正文的开始部分，主要包括两个内容：一是提出问题；二是介绍综述的范围和内容。提出问题时，作者要给出定义性解释、交代研究背景、简单介绍不同文献的看法和分歧所在并介绍该文献的写作目的；介绍该综述的范围和主要内容时，作者应使用简明扼要的语句加以概括。
引言的内容和结构具有以下特点：
（1）综述的引言通常包括定义性解释、研究背景、现存问题或分歧、综述的目的、内容和范围；
（2）使用一般现在时介绍背景知识，使用现在完成时叙述他人成果，使用一般将来时或一般现在时简介本文内容；
（3）句子结构力求简洁明了，多用简单句，并列成份较为常见；
（4）以第三人称主语为主，间或使用第一人称复数充当主语。
述评(Review)
述评是文献综述的核心所在，是对引言的展开和深入。根据引言所提出的问题和限定的范围，作者要对大量有关文献进行系统的整理、归纳、对比和分析，在此基础上列出与主题有关的所有重要学术观点，然后分别加以论述，以便读者获得全面的了解。回顾前人研究，以时间为序，由远及近。以有叙有议的方式体现述评的功能，叙前人研究，议其结果、探其原因、究其不足。
分析评论，特别是表达作者自己的观点时，要客观、谨慎，因此多使用模糊性语言和表推测的语言形式。
综述的结论(Conclusion）
结论不仅是作者对全文的总结，也是作者发表个人意见的部分，一般有标题Conclusion 或Summary，较短的综述如果没有小标题，则往往有As mentioned above，To sum up，To conclude，Inshort，In all 等短语引出结论。结论的内容包括：对述评的归纳、对各种问题的评论性意见、对未来研究的建议或展望。
二．注意事项
⒈搜集文献应尽量全面。掌握全面、大量的文献资料是写好综述的前提，否则，随便搜集一
点资料就动手撰写是不可能写出好的文献综述，甚至写出的文章根本不成为综述。
⒉注意引用文献的代表性、可靠性和科学性。在搜集到的文献中可能出现观点雷同，有的
文献在可靠性及科学性方面存在着差异，因此在引用文献时应注意选用代表性、可靠性和
科学性较好的文献。
⒊引用文献要忠实文献内容。由于文献综述有作者自己的评论分析，因此在撰写时应分清
作者的观点和文献的内容，不能篡改文献的内容。
⒋参考文献不能省略。有的科研论文可以将参考文献省略，但文献综述绝对不能省略，而
且应是文中引用过的，能反映主题全貌的并且是作者直接阅读过的文献资料。
5.文献综述不应是对已有文献的重复、罗列和一般性介绍，而应是对以往研究的优点、不足和贡献的批判性分析与评论。因此，文献综述应包括综合提炼和分析评论双重含义。
6.文献综述要文字简洁，尽量避免大量引用原文，要用自己的语言把作者的观点说清楚，从原始文献中得出一般性结论。
7. 文献综述不是资料库，要紧紧围绕课题研究的“问题”，确保所述的已有研究成果与本课题研究直接相关，其内容是围绕课题紧密组织在一起，既能系统全面地反映研究对象的历史、现状和趋势，又能反映研究内容的各个方面。
8. 文献综述的综述要全面、准确、客观，用于评论的观点、论据最好来自一次文献，尽量避免使用别人对原始文献的解释或综述。
. A Sample of Literature Review
A Study of Chinese Vogue Expressions and Translations
Although we can see the obtained achievements in researching on Chinese vogue expressions, papers on the translation of contemporary Chinese vogue expressions are scarce and rare, not to mention the discussion of translation methods and untranslatability of Chinese vogue expressions, which is a great regret in the field of vogue expressions. Few representative papers on Chinese vogue expressions translation are listed as follows: A Study of Shooting Star Language Translation(Wang Jian, Zhou Yongping, 2005:92～94); Cultural Reflection on Vogue Words Translation (Su Yu, Wang Ting, 2011:50 ～ 51); The optimization of “Zero Translation” in Translating Vogue Words (Shi Rui, 2010:102～105).
Hence, the numbers of researches on contemporary Chinese vogue expressions translation are expected to be increased and the comprehensive and detailed researches on this field are also expected to appear. Since 1990s, scholars have already paid attention to Chinese vogue expressions, but the research at that time is still in the stage of tentative exploration. Some representative papers are: City Buzzwords and Social-Cultural Analysis (Sun Manjun,1996:101～107) discusses the development and changes of buzzwords in the current society facing transformation as well as the relation between buzzwords and background of social culture and psychological changes of urban people; Metaphorically Semantic Generalization of Vogue Expressions (Liu Dawei,1997:35 ～ 38) talks about the semantic generalization of metaphors of vogue expressions; Study on Creativity and Homoplasy of Language from Vogue Expressions (Xia Lihong, 1999:16～18) treats the development process of vogue expressions from the characteristics of creativity and homoplasy, believing that vogue expressions are originally the “creativity” used in a certain range, and finally surpass the original range of use because of the interaction among people and the homoplasy of aesthetic interests. Due to the characteristics of timeliness, periodicity and randomness, some vogue expressions can not be included in common dictionaries, therefore, language scholars carried out the work of compiling vogue expressions dictionaries, such as Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese Vogue Expressions (Xiong Zhongwu, 1992), andBeijing Modern Buzzwords (Zhou Yimin, 1992).
After entering 21st century, increasingly great number of Chinese vogue expressions emerges and penetrates into different aspects of social life; accordingly, related researches on Chinese vogue expressions become comparatively richer. Researching on Chinese vogue expressions has already become the hot topic of linguistic and cultural circles. The Linguistic will contribute to the filed of Chinese vogue expressions and make references forothers who are interested in contemporary Chinese vogue expressions and their Translations.
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