How not to write a PhD thesis | General | Times Higher Education

How not to write a PhD thesis | General | Times Higher Education

Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology

An International Multidisciplinary Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology
JOURNAL AIMS & SCOPE: Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology is an   international, multi-disciplinary, refereed (peer-reviewed) journal aiming to promote and enhance research in all fields of knowledge, but priority is for the current programmes. The journal is published by Elwasila College for Science & Technology (in Sudan, and is intended for readers in the scholarly community. Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology provides a platform for debate and dissemination of research findings, new research areas and techniques, conceptual developments, and articles with practical application to any knowledge segment. Besides research papers, the journal welcomes book reviews, conference reports, case studies, research notes and commentaries. Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology aims at:

·         Disseminating and promoting research, good practice and innovation in all aspects of knowledge & science to its prime readers including educationalists, researchers, post-graduate students, policy makers, and enterprises.  

·         Encouraging international scientific cooperation and understanding, and enhancing multi-disciplinary research across all learning sectors.

The scope of the journal is an international and all papers submitted are subject to strict blind peer review by its Editorial Board and by other anonymous international reviewers. The journal features conceptual and empirical papers, and editorial policy is to invite the submission of manuscripts from academics, researchers, post-graduate students, policy-makers and industry practitioners. The Editorial Board will be looking particularly for articles about new trends and developments within different sectors of learning, and the application of new ideas and developments that are likely to affect learning in the future. Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology also welcomes submission of manuscripts in areas that may not be directly learning-related but cover a topic that is of interest to researchers, educators, policy-makers and practitioners in various fields of human knowledge.

The material published in Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology covers all scientific, conceptual and applied disciplines related to learning, management, planning and national development, marketing, human resources, information and communication technologies, service quality, and education. Manuscripts published in Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology should not have been published previously in any copyright form (print or electronic/online). The general criteria for the acceptance of articles are:

·         Contribution to the promotion of scientific knowledge in the greater multi-disciplinary field.

·         Adequate and relevant literature review.

·         Scientifically valid and reliable methodology.

·         Clarity of writing.

·         Standard quality of English language.

Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology is published twice a year. Each issue may cover the following sections: editorial, research papers, research notes, case studies, book reviews, conference reports, industry viewpoints, and forthcoming events.

Open Access Policy

Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology is an Open Access journal, conforming fully to Elwasila College. Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology  is permitting its users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of its articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, is to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited.

NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

 Manuscript Submission Procedure

Manuscripts should be written as understandably and concisely as possible with clarity and meaningfulness. Submission of a manuscript to Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology  represents a certification on the part of the author(s) that it is an original work and has not been copyrighted elsewhere; manuscripts that are eventually published may not be reproduced in any other publication (print or electronic), as their copyright has been transferred to Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology . Submissions are accepted only in electronic form; authors are requested to submit one copy of each manuscript by email attachment. All manuscripts should be emailed to the Editor-in-Chief,  and depending on the nature of the manuscript submissions should also be emailed as follows:

·         Conference reports should be emailed directly to the Conference Reports Editor.

·         Book reviews should be emailed directly to the Book Reviews Editor.

·         Full papers and all other types of manuscripts should be emailed directly to the Managing Editor.

Feedback regarding the submission of a manuscript (including the reviewers' comments) will be provided to the author(s) within six weeks of the receipt of the manuscript. Submission of a manuscript will be held to imply that it contains original unpublished work not being considered for publication elsewhere at the same time. Each author of a manuscript accepted for publication will receive three complimentary copies of the issue, and will also have to sign a “transfer of copyright” form. If appropriate, author(s) can correct first proofs. Manuscripts submitted to Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology, accepted for publication or not, cannot be returned to the author(s).

Manuscript Length

Research Papers should be not longer than 6000 words and not shorter than 4000. Research Notes should be not longer than 2000 words and not shorter than 1000. Case Studies should be not longer than 3500 words and not shorter than 2500. Book Reviews should be not longer than 1500 words and not shorter than 1000. Conference Reports should be not longer than 2000 words and not shorter than 1000. Industry Viewpoints should be not longer than 1500 words and not shorter than 500. Forthcoming Events should be not longer than 500 words. Manuscripts that do not fully conform to the above word limits (according to the type of the article) will be automatically rejected and should not be entered into the reviewing process.

Manuscript Style & Preparation

All submissions (research papers, research notes, case studies, book reviews, conference reports, industry viewpoints, and forthcoming events) must have a title of no more than 12 words.

Manuscripts should be double-line spaced, and have at least 2,5 cm (one-inch) margin on all four sides. Pages should be numbered consecutively.

The use of footnotes within the text is discouraged – use endnotes instead. Endnotes should be kept to a minimum, be used to provide additional comments and discussion, and should be numbered consecutively in the text and typed on a separate page at the end of the article.

Quotations must be taken accurately from the original source. Alterations to the quotations must be noted.  Quotation marks (“ ”) are to be used to denote direct quotes.  Inverted commas (‘ ‘) should denote a quote within a quotation. If the quotation is less than 3 lines, then it should be included in the main text enclosed in quotation marks.  If the quotation is more than 3 lines, then it should be separated from the main text and indented.

The name(s) of any sponsor(s) of the research contained in the manuscript, or any other acknowledgements, should appear at the very end of the manuscript.

Tables, figures and illustrations are to be included in the text and to be numbered consecutively (in Arabic numbers). Each table, figure or illustration must have a title.

The text should be organized under appropriate section headings, which, ideally, should not be more than 500-700 words apart.

The main body of the text should be written in Times New Roman letters, font size 12.

Section headings should be written in Arial letters, font size 12, and should be marked as follows: primary headings should be centred and typed in bold capitals and underlined; secondary headings should be typed with italic bold capital letters; other headings should be typed in capital letters. Authors are urged to write as concisely as possible, but not at the expense of clarity.

Authors submitting papers for publication should specify which section of the journal they wish their paper to be considered for: research papers, research notes, case studies, book reviews, conference reports, industry viewpoints, and forthcoming events.

Author(s) are responsible for preparing manuscripts which are clearly written in acceptable, scholarly language, and which contain no errors of spelling, grammar, or punctuation. Neither the Editorial Board nor the Publisher is responsible for correcting errors of spelling or grammar.

Where acronyms are used, their full expression should be given initially.

Authors are asked to ensure that there are no libellous implications in their work.  Elwasila Journal of Science & Technology has the right to reject any work with libelous implications.

Manuscript Presentation

For submission, manuscripts of research papers, research notes and case studies should be arranged in the following order of presentation:

·         First page: title, subtitle (if required), author's name and surname, affiliation, full postal address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address. Respective names, affiliations and addresses of co-author(s) should be clearly indicated. Also, include an abstract of not more than 150 words and up to 6 keywords that identify article content. Also include a short biography of the author (about 50 words); in the case of co-author(s), the same details should also be included. All correspondence will be sent to the first named author, unless otherwise indicated.

·         Second page: title, an abstract of not more than 150 words and up to 6 keywords that identify article content. Do not include the author(s) details, affiliation(s), and biographies in this page.

·         Subsequent pages: the paper should begin on the third page and should not subsequently reveal the title or authors. In these pages should be included the main body of text (including tables, figures and illustrations); list of references; appendixes; and endnotes (numbered consecutively).

·         The author(s) should ensure that their names cannot be identified anywhere in the text.

Referencing Style

In the text, references should be cited with parentheses using the “author, date” style - for example for single citations (Hago, 2004), or for multiple citations (Isaac, 1998; Hago, 2003). Page numbers for specific points or direct quotations must be given (i.e., Hago, 2004: 312-313). The Reference list, placed at the end of the manuscript, must be typed in alphabetical order of authors. The specific format is:

·         For journal papers: Tribe, J. (2002). The philosophic practitioner. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 29, No.2, pp.338-357.

·         For books and monographs: Teare, R. & Ingram, H. (1993). Strategic Management: A Resource-Based Approach for the Hospitality and Tourism Industries. London, Cassell.

·         For chapters in edited books: Sigala, M. and Christou, E. (2002). Use of Internet for enhancing tourism and hospitality education: lessons from Europe. In K.W. Wober, A.J. Frew and M. Hitz (Eds.) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism, Wien: Springer-Verlag.

·         For papers presented in conferences: Ford, B. (2004). Adoption of innovations on hospitality. Paper presented at the 22nd EuroCHRIE Conference. Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey: 3-7 November 2004.

·         For unpublished works: Hago, O. (2009). The impact of ecology on translation, Unpublished PhD Thesis. Khartoum, Sudan: Open University of Sudan.

·         For Internet sources (if you know the author): Johns, D. (2003) The power of branding in tourism. Ηttp://www.tourismabstracts.org/marketing/papers-authors/id3456. Accessed the 12 th of January 2005, at 14:55. (Note: always state clearly the full URL of your source)

·         For Internet sources (if you do not know the author): Tourism supply and demand. Ηttp://www.tourismabstracts.org/marketing/papers-authors/id3456. Accessed the 30 th of January 2004, at 12:35. (Note: always state clearly the full URL of your source)

·         For reports: Edelstein, L. G. & Benini, C. (1994). Meetings and Conventions. Meetings market report (August), 60-82.

Assessing Students' Performance in Writing Composition at Tertiary Level

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Sudan University of Science and Technology

Faculty of Education

Proposal

A thesis Submitted in Fulfillment for the Requirements of PhD Degree in Applied Linguistics

Assessing Students' Performance in Writing Composition at Tertiary Level

A Case Study of Dalanj University, Dalanj Locality, Sudan

Submitted By:

Kabashi Omer Saboon Shareef

November, 2013

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

1.0. Background of the Research

   This study is conducted to examine the students' performance in writing composition at Dalanj University. The objectives of the study are to find out to what extent students use rules and mechanics in writing composition, whether students can express their thoughts and ideas logically and systematically. Develop and manage their composition writing skillfully. The study tries to answer whether students can use transitional words and phrases to connect ideas within and between sentences while writing composition, why students can't construct unified and meaningful sentences in order to write composition, whether students can produce compositions with correct grammar, meaningful punctuations and accurate spelling and to extent they can write a unified, coherent and cohesive composition. The study hypothesizes that students at Dalanj University tend to be poor in using suitable transitional words, their compositions lack coherence, cohesive and unity. There are so many incomprehensive structures and splice sentences in students' compositions. In addition to, students' compositions are full of grammatical errors, incorrect punctuations and inaccurate spelling.

   The significance of the study is to assess students' performance in creative writing, specifically, composition writing. Because it will specify what appropriate methods and techniques of teaching will be used in helping students write more creatively. In addition to, supporting students in ongoing development of the abilities needed to monitor and manage their own writing.

  1.1. Statement of the Problem

  Writing is a highly complex and demanding process, which requires rules and mechanics. It also requires rich source of cognitive process and strategies for text production.

   So, the present study attempts to investigate the difficulty that the students of English language teaching at Dalanj University encounter in producing comprehensive, unified and coherent composition.

1.2. Objectives of the research

    The study aims at achieving the following:

a- Measuring students' abilities in using rules and mechanics in writing composition.

b- Investigating how far students maintain rich source of cognitive process and strategies for composition production.

c- Whether students can express their thoughts and ideas logically and systematically.

d. Develop and manage their composition writing skillfully.

1.3. Questions of the research

1- Can students use transitional words and phrases to connect ideas within and between sentences while writing composition?

2- Why can't the students construct unified and meaningful sentences in order to write composition?

3- Can the students produce compositions with correct grammar, meaningful punctuations and accurate spelling?

4- Can the students write a unified, coherent and cohesive composition?

1.4. Hypotheses

    The study tries to answer the following hypotheses:

1- Students are unable to use meaningful and appropriate transitional words while writing composition.

2- There are many grammatical errors, misuse of punctuations and inaccurate spelling in students' compositions.

3- Students' compositions lack unity, coherence and cohesive.

4- Incomplete and splice sentences are the prominent features in students' composition.

1.5. The Significance of the research

   University students are supposed to be well-equipped with knowledge and skills. Mastering learning skills; especially writing acts as a cornerstone for their success in their university studies.

     Conversely, university students are incapable of producing any cognitive writing. Not only this, but also they cannot express their thoughts and feelings in comprehensive meaningful sentences. They cannot convey their message via writing.

     For what has been mentioned above, this study is conducted to assess students' performance in creative writing, specifically, composition writing. Knowing the students' performance, will specify what type of methods and techniques of teaching will be appropriate for helping students write more creatively. In addition to, supporting students in ongoing development of the abilities needed to monitor and manage their own writing.

1.6. Delimitation of the study

    This study is conducted at University of Dalanj, South Kordofan State from (2013 – 2016). The sample chosen for the study is (100) third-year students who are specialized in English language teaching (ELT). They represent two different colleges, Teachers' college and Faculty of Education. The means of collecting data is a test, by exposing students to write a free composition. This tool is selected, because the researcher thinks that it is more reliable to answer the questions and the hypotheses of the study.

    

كلية الوسيلة للعلوم و التكنولوجيا برنامج بكلاريوس العلوم الإدارية

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

وزراة التعليم العالي و البحث العلمي

كلية الوسيلة للعلوم و التكنولوجيا

برنامج بكلاريوس العلوم الإدارية

·        الرؤية

رفد المجتمع والمجال الإقتصادي بكوادر مؤهلة في مجال الإقتصاد والدراسات التجارية.

·        الرسالة

الإلتزام بتأهيل أطر متفردة ومتخصصة ومقتدرة في مجال الإقتصاد والدراسات التجارية مع الإسهام في تطوير المجتمع بالكفاية المطلوبة والإرتقاء بالبحث العلمي.

·        الأهداف

1.    إعداد أطر متخصصة في مجال الإقتصاد والدراسات التجارية.

2.    تلبية حاجة البلاد وسوق العمل من الكوادر المؤهلة.

3.    الإسهام في استنباط حلول مبتكرة ومتكاملة لمشكلات الإقتصاد والمشكلات الإدارية.

4.    وضع الخطط الدراسية في مجال الإقتصاد والدراسات التجارية وتطويرها واستحداث أساليب متطورة للتدريب.

5.    إنشاء علاقات تعاون وتبادل للخبرات مع مؤسسات التعليم الأهلي والحكومي ومراكز البحوث ذات الصلة محلياً وعالمياً.

6.    خلق شراكة ذكية مع المؤسسات العامة والخاصة.

7.    تنمية برامج خدمة المجتمع في مجال التخصص.

·        القيم

الشفافية- العدالة- المصداقية- الجودة- التميز.

Bachelor of  Business Administration Programme

• Vision
Providing community and the economic field with qualified cadres in the field of economy and business studies.
• Mission
Commitment to qualify unique, specialized and competent cadres in economic and business studies field, besides contributing to the development of community with the required sufficiency and the promotion of scientific research.
• Objectives
1. Preparing qualified cadres in the field of economy and business studies.
2. Meet the country needs and the work market by competent cadres.
3. Finding new and integrated solutions to the economic problems and administrative problems.
4. Developing study plans in the field of economy and business studies, and introducing new methods of training.
5. Establishing relations of cooperation and exchange of experiences with the institutions of governmental and private sectors and relevant research centers locally and globally.
6. Create a smart partnership with public and private institutions.
7. Developing community service programmes in the area of ​​specialization.
• Values
Transparency - Justice - credibility - quality – and excellency.