2023 IJRSE – Volume 12 Issue 7
Available Online: 25 August 2023
Author/s:
Twumasi, Rita Akele*
University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana (rakeletwumasi@ucc.edu.gh)
Afful, Joseph Benjamin Archibald
University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana (jafful@ucc.edu.gh)
Abstract:
Assessment in post graduate higher education helps to understand student learning, and it provides the needed comments (feedback) that will enable students to master skills in achieving expected standards. Positive feedback is key here. The study investigates the use of positive summative comments in examiners’ reports, a key but occluded written genre in the academic discourse community. Adopting a qualitative approach, the study purposively sampled hundred examiners’ reports on MPhil theses from four disciplines (1, 2, 3 & 4) in University of Cape Coast (UCC). The analysis showed that positive comments are expressed on various aspects of the thesis, in line with UCC’s list of evaluative criteria. Key part-genres of the thesis, such as title, abstract, and the entire thesis also received positive comments from the examiners. The study contributes to the growing literature on the use of evaluative language in fostering learning. The findings on the use of positive comments in the examiners’ reports contributes to the literature on language of thesis examination reports. Finally, the findings have implications for further research.
Keywords: assessment, evaluation, examiners’ reports, positive comments, postgraduate pedagogy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2023.58
Cite this article:
Twumasi, R. A., & Afful, J. B. A. (2023). “The work is seminal”: The use of positive summative comments in examiners’ reports on MPhil theses. International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 12(7), 75-90. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2023.58
* Corresponding Author