Roles, functions and evaluative language in PhD examiners reports

Roles, functions and evaluative language in PhD examiners reports Professor Brian PaltridgeA/Professor Sue StarfieldDr Robert McMurtrieToday we are going to talk about how a discursive approach to approach when analysing the language of examiners reports. This approach has enabled us to make a correlation between the linguistic features used in the reports and the various roles that examiners adopt during the writing of the reports. 1Outline The project and our role

Part 1

Methods, resources, tools, frameworks and theoriesSFL lens: APPRAISAL, TRANSITIVITY

Part 210 roles institution, supervisor, expert, reporter, peer, viva examiner, evaluator, editor, commentator and examiner not isomorphic v. clustering

Final comments

Roles[T]he real role of the examiner is to judge whether the student has mastered appropriate indeterminate skills and displayed the right indeterminate qualities. (Delamont et al. 2000, 41, emphasis added)

Resources from FOCUS sharpen and soften the boundaries between things, grading something that is inherently non-gradable (Martin and Rose, 2007: 46)

Lets start by taking this quote by Denicolo et al., which informs us of the real role of the examiner, and alters us to other roles, albeit, perhaps peripheral to this real role 4Previous research : function/rolesPrevious research on the language of examiners reportsPraising, hedging (Hyland 1998), criticising, sugar coating the pill (Hyland and Hyland 2001)

Previous research on the roles examiners adoptResponsibilities, duties, job descriptions Teacher, proof-reader, facilitator, gatekeeper, evaluator, knowledge provider and reader (Hyland and Hyland 2001)schizophrenic role of the teacher when marking assignments Leki (1990: 59)So our part of the study contributes to previous research with has analysed the language of examiners reports in terms of praise, criticism, hedging, sugar-coating the pill, and that which has examined schizophrenic role of the teacher when marking assignments Leki (1990: 59), whereby we link the linguistic feature with the various roles.

in order to do this we undertake a transitivity analysis of the criteria that has been established by the university in question and correlate this to the appraisal framework. Transitivity helps us understand what is being evaluated and appraisal tells us how it is evaluated. 5Our contribution: Identifying various rolesMaking the correlation between the linguistic features and the rolesTRANSITIVITY = what is being evaluated APPRAISAL framework to see how the what is being appraised/evaluated Synthesis of experiential and interpersonal

APPRAISAL

APPRAISAL

APPRAISAL framework AFFECT: how we feeldis-satisfactionun-happinessin-security

JUDGEMENT: how we evaluate the behaviour of another personnormalcycapacitytenacityveracityPropriety

APPRECIATION: how we evaluate an object reactionimpactqualitycompositionbalancecomplexity valuation Lets see what this means if we have a look at the appraisal framework. Firstly, we only draw on three dimensions of appraisal. Affect, judgement and appreciation. Just briefly, affect is concerned with how we feel sad, happy, worried. Judgement deals with evaluations of the behaviour of people, normal capable, careful, truthful, ethical . Appreciation is about evaluating things, we find things interesting and excellent, logical and clear, or profound etc. 9Transitivity frameworkThe studenthas performedan in-depth study.ActorProcess:materialGoal

The findingswere evaluatedcritically.GoalProcess:materialCircumstance

The thesisisa fine example of a good PhD. CarrierProcess:relational: attributive:intensiveAttribute

Ilike the engagement with Popper.SenserProcess:mentalPhenomenonBriefly, transitivity is concerned with the function of participants in discourse, and these functions are determined by the verb, or Process, that is used.To use some examples from the reports, we can see that the subject of the sentences have a different function. So in the first, the candidate is being judged, the second and third, the findings and the thesis are being appreciated we will come back to this in a minute; the final one, the examiner is telling the reader how he or she feels AFFECT. 10Role of the PhD thesis A successful PhD thesiswill demonstratethe candidates ability to conduct original research and to present the findings of that research to a professional standardTokenProcess:relational:intensiveValueIf we do a transitivity analysis on what the university thinks a PhD should do, we can see that the thesis and the candidates ability are in a Token/Value relationship, which implies that the thesis is representative of the candidates ability. It is much like an equals sign, as Token and Values are reversible. 11CriteriaDoes the thesis comprise a coherent investigation of the chosen topic? (APPRECIATION:composition:balance)

Does the thesis deal with a topic of sufficient range and depth to meet the requirements of the degree? (APPRECIATION:valuation:standard:depth)

Does the thesis make an original contribution to knowledge in its field (APPRECIATION:valuation:standard:original) and contain material suitable for publication in an appropriate academic journal ? (APPRECIATION:valuation:standard:publishable)

Does the thesis meet internationally recognised standards for the conduct and presentation of research in the field? (APPRECIATION:valuation:standard/propriety APPRECIATION:reaction:quality/composition:complexity)

Does the thesis demonstrate both a thorough knowledge of the literature relevant to its subject and general field? (APPRECIATION:valuation:capacity:cognition) and the candidate's ability to exercise critical and analytical judgement of that literature? (covert JUDGEMENT:capacity)

Does the thesis display mastery of appropriate methodology and/or theoretical material? (APPRECIATION:valuation:standard:appropriate)If we apply a transitivity analysis to the criteria, we will see that what is being appreciated is the thesis only, not the candidate. Therefore, judgement is not part of the real role of the examiner. Also excluded are APPRECIATION:reaction :impact. Examiners are not asked how the thesis grabbed them interesting, fascinating. Related to this is AFFECT. Examiners are not required to tell their reader how they feel. 12APPRAISAL from criteria+ve/-ve APPRECIATION:valuation+ve/-ve APPRECIATION:composition:balance+ve/-ve APPRECIATION:composition:complexity+ve/-ve APPRECIATION:reaction:quality

+ve/-ve APPRECIATION:reaction:impact

APPRAISAL

TransitivityThe candidatehas presented the thesis generally well ActorProcess:material GoalCircumstance Circumstance The thesis isgenerallypresentedwell

GoalCircumstanceProcess:materialCircumstanceThe candidatehas presented the thesis generally well ActorProcess:material GoalCircumstance Circumstance We just stated that JUDGEMENT is not the domain of the examiner; however, since the thesis and the candidates ability and knowledge etc are in a Token Value relationship, we can expect to see what we have called covert judgment, implicit judgement, and this is realised by the grammatical structure passive voice and nominalisation. Well only talk about passive voice today, which places the Goal in the Subject position (theme) and removes agency; however, it is obvious that the candidate is the implied Actor. With active voice the Candidate as Actor would be placed in Subject position as in 2. Passive voice is used as a resource to fulfil a dual function; to appreciate the thesis, on one hand, and to covertly pass judgement on the other hand, which, according to the criteria, is the role of the examiner. 15JUDGEMENT v. COVERT JUDGEMENT APPRECIATION JUDGEMENT

COVERT JUDGEMENT

This study is well-presented (+ve APPRECIATION: reaction:quality)The candidate has presented the thesis well (+ve JUDGEMENT:capacity).

The thesis is generally presented well (+ve COVERT JUDGEMENT:capacity)This thesis fails to justify its claims (-ve APPRECIATION:valuation)The candidate has failed to substantiate her claims (-ve JUDGEMENT:capacity)

The failure to substantiate her claims (-ve COVERT JUDGEMENT:capacity)

So, to illustrate the difference between JUDGEMENT, APPRECIATION and COVERT JUDGEMENT.The candidate is the Actor in Subject positionThe study is the Carrier placed in Subject position with the Attributes well-designed and well-presented.The thesis is Goal placed in Subject position, and because it is passive there is an implicit Actor (candidate); therefore, the candidate is being judged as the thesis is being appreciated ie simultaneously 16APPRAISAL

ENGAGEMENTMonoglossic no room for negotiation (prescriptive)Heteroglossic room for negotiationOther voices reporting, quoting and paraphrasing, modality Related to stance, voice, position, hedging We also draw on ENGAGEMENT, which is concerned with alternative perspectives and other voices in the reports. An examiner can be monoglossic, giving bare assertions which do not allow any room for negotiation. Directives such as Do as I say. Or the examiners discourse can be heteroglossic. You may do it this way or that way. Engagement also introduces other voices into the text by quoting paraphrasing etc. These resources have helped us to differentiate between prescriptive and formative feedback as well as to distinguish between quotes from the thesis and sentences in the examiners report written as an expert. 18Register (style)Holbrook et al (2012, 3, emphasis added) [e]xaminers write their report in a sequence and style that reflects their discipline, their unique interests and expertise

Johnston (1997, 336, emphasis added) showed a wide variation in style

Register Field What is going on (participants and processes)Tenor What are the social roles of the participantsMode How is the discourse presented (as formal written or causal conversation)Register is also another resource that alerted us to the various roles. We already knew from previous research that [e]xaminers write their report in a sequence and style that reflects their discipline, their unique interests and expertise. We interpret style as register, which deals with field, tenor and mode of discourse. Field What is going on (participants and processes) Tenor the social roles of the participants and Mode How is the discourse presented (as formal written or causal conversation)

19Unit of information: clauseOverview: This is an original, well thought out, methodical, detailed and concise PhD thesis

5x APPRECIATION (one role examiner)

The nature of this colour variation is interesting and important

2x APPRECIATION (two roles commentator, evaluator)

We then had to think about the unit of information we were going to deal with. Since evaluation is realised by grammar as well as lexis, so we needed a larger unit than word or phrase, so we opted for the clause. This has worked generally well as most of the time, one clause has one evaluation and one role. However, lets consider:The results are fascinating (+ve appreciation:reaction:impact, which is what Bednarek calls +ve COVERT AFFECT:satisfaction) Overview: This is an original, well thought out, methodical, detailed and concise PhD thesis [[that addresses a poorly understood topic]]. (5x appreciation)The nature of this colour variation is interesting and important (2x appreciation: COVERT AFFECT (commentator) APPRECIATION (evaluator)20Method Clause Passive Positive/ negative RoleAPPRECIATIONJUDGEMENTCOVERT JUDGEMENTAFFECTCOVERT AFFECTOverview: This is an original, well thought out, methodical, detailed and concise PhD thesis [[that addresses a poorly understood topic]]. positiveexaminer The results are fascinatingpositivecommentatorand are a major contribution to our understanding of fragmentation in Surtseyan eruptions.positiveexaminerX has clearly put a big effort into this

positiveevaluator and she should be congratulated for a super piece of work.

positiveevaluator

I recommend that the thesis be accepted and the degree awarded after amendments have been made positiveexaminerWe transferred the clauses to an excel sheet, and named the columns: passive, positive/negative/Role/APPRECIATION/JUDGEMENT/COVERT JUDGEMENT/AFFECT/COVERT AFFECT. We then placed a tick under the most appropriate column for each clause.21Roles If we take the criteria as the essential part of the examiners roles, then everything beyond the parameters belongs to other roles. 22Examiner This figure places the examiner role in the middle. We found 9 additional roles: institution, supervisor, expert, reporter, peer, viva examiner, evaluator, editor, commentator, which are integrated with the examiner role. 23The real role of the examinerAPPRECIATION:Impact: qualityComposition: balance/complexityValuation However, because the thesis and the candidate are in a Token/Valued relationship:COVERT JUDGEMENT Which is APPRECIATION: normalcy/capacity/tenacity/ veracity/propriety Passive voiceNominalisation Field: recommendations, award, degree, emendationsI recommend that the thesis be accepted and the degree awarded after amendments have been made The examiner, as stated, relates to the criteria, which call for APPRECIATION:impact: quality vomposition: balance/complexity and valuation as well as COVERT JUDGEMENT in relation to the criteria. In addition, the examiners role is realised by the field: recommendations, award, degree, emendations, acceptI recommend that the thesis be accepted and the degree awarded after amendments have been made 24Roles The examiner takes the role of the institution when quoting the criteria verbatim, creating an imaginary conversation between the institution and him or herself 25InstitutionInstitution: Does the thesis make an original contribution to knowledge in the field and contain material suitable for publication in an appropriate academic journal? Examiner: Yes Institution: Does the thesis make an original contribution to knowledge in the field and contain material suitable for publication in an appropriate academic journal? Examiner: Yes

26Roles The supervisor role in the reports is similar the actual supervisor role during the process of writing the PhD. Some examiners are aware of this role: I felt throughout reading the thesis that my comments on the work were more akin to those of a supervisor rather than that of an examiner.27Supervisor I felt throughout reading the thesis that my comments on the work were more akin to those of a supervisor rather than that of an examiner.

The actual role of supervisor: formative feedback (Holbrook et al 2004, 9)Gap in knowledge and how to close the gap and improve the thesis.

Dialogic (Kumar and Stracke 2007, 467).

Tenor: close, friendly

We know that actual role of supervisor is primarily to give formative feedback (Holbrook et al 2004, 9). Providing formative feedback, the supervisors role is to fill the gap in knowledge by giving advice on how to improve the thesis. Advice is not prescriptive; it is dialogic in nature (Kumar and Stracke 2007, 467), a closer Tenor is constructed and there is room for negotiation in terms of ENGAGEMENT.

28SupervisorWhy do you think this is the case? Cf. Why is this the case? but can you say a little more about why you prefer it and did not use the EM algorithm?You might also consider some of the earlier work of ValireA useful start is his 2002 JBR paper (for an overview see Dixon, Donald F. (2002) "Emerging Macromarketing Concepts: From Socrates to Alfred Marshall." Journal of Business Research, 55 (2), 87-95)You should consider stating here that this piece of research focuses on this subtype I would make (even) clearer where this emerges from, and take full credit.

T he relationship of the supervisor and candidate is closer than that of the examiner and candidate; therefore, you is used instead of the candidate, the author. Since the role of the supervisor is to encourage critical thinking, the process consider is used. Modality should, could, might, would, again opening up space for negotiation as opposed to must, required to or a material imperative do, all of which require action and are part of the examiner. 29Comparisons ExaminerSupervisor The candidate needs to explain exactly what these numbers representYou might also consider some of the earlier work of ValirePage 44. (Do) As with Chapter, voucher specimens should be lodged in a National Collection and voucher numbers givenPage 77. (Consider) Could there be some thermoregulation function to retention of wings but loss of flight?

Lets have a look at the difference between what the candidate needs to do, and what the candidate might consider. The first generally requires a subsequent material Process action, whereas the second requires a mental Process reflection. 30Roles The editor role usually comes in one big block at the end of the report and usually takes the form x should be yP14 loose should be lose 31EditorPrescriptivex should be yP14 loose should be lose

Usually at the end of the report P60 "to small" should be "too small" P64 expression in the sentence "In winter 2006..." p71 "an person" should be "a person" p73 expression "There have been maximum..." P76 describe above should be described above P78 128 input station should be stations P89 expression "The outgoing solar ..." P94 Fig 4.2 is referred to before Fig 4.1 P97 expression "the ELA was with 1810..." P97 expression 2000 msl has an massive The editor role usually comes in one big block at the end of the report and usually takes the form

x should be yP14 loose should be lose 32Roles The reporter role 33ReporterSynoptic overview ofThesis Chapters SectionsThis thesis reports the results of what is essentially a single study with boys with ADHD and a control group of normally developing boysUses verbal processes, quotes, paraphrasesThese organic compounds are known as siderophores." This sentence suggests that all Fe (III)-binding compounds in seawater are siderophores.Monoglossic Several well-known motifs (such as the 5' UTR TATA box) are low complexity elements

To position her or himself in relation to the contentHeteroglossic contracting closing space down for alternativesThe author has demonstrated that putative toxin/antitoxin pairs can act as such on when found on the chromosomes of M. smegmatisHeteroglossic expanding distancing formulationIn particular, it is claimed (p. 56) that the research in the thesis is based on the work of Tripp and Alsop (1999, 2001), but the details of those studies and their theoretical impact is not fully explained (p.44). The reporter role draws on the resources from ENGAGEMENT. The reporter gives a brief overview of the whole thesis at the beginning of the report and then, during the unfolding, can give an overview of a chapter or a section. The reporter uses verbal Processes report, demonstrates, claims, or quotes directlyThese organic compounds are known as siderophores." This sentence suggests that all Fe (III)-binding compounds in seawater are siderophores.The reporter is not always neutral as in Several well-known motifs (such as the 5' UTR TATA box) are low complexity elements Rather, examiners can cotnract dialogic space by using demonstrated The author has demonstrated that putative toxin/antitoxin pairs can act as such on when found on the chromosomes of M. smegmatisOr expand dialogic space by using claimedIn particular, it is claimed (p. 56) that the research in the thesis is based on the work of Tripp and Alsop (1999, 2001), but the details of those studies and their theoretical impact is not fully explained (p.44). 34Roles The peer role is to give advice beyond the parameters of the thesis. 35PeerEncouragement/improvement beyond the confines of the thesis

Field: publish, paper, articles

Tenor: close relationship; modality: should, could

X should consider publishing the introduction, in a shortened version, as a review paperSome of the suggestions listed are identified as not necessary for the thesis but desirable prior to publication.

It is realised by field: X should consider publishing the introduction, in a shortened version, as a review paper

36Roles The evaluator role37EvaluatorEvaluation beyond the criteria:

APPRECIATION and JUDGEMENT (overt)

No intrusion on the message, i.e., I She is extremely passionate about blogging (+ve JUDGEMENT:normalcy) This is an early study opening up a very complex system

The evaluator give evaluation beyond the criteria, including direct JUDGEMENT. Unlike a commentator (which I will address shortly) there is no intrusion on the message with an explicit I. She is extremely passionate about blogging (+ve JUDGEMENT:normalcy) 55-56 - The point about the extent (80pc) of Ghana's land being held under customary title is very important (even if it is not this high in urban areas) (+ve APPRECIATION:valuation)

38Roles The expert role39ExpertExaminers should be suitably qualified to undertake the task. Suitably qualified examiners: preferably have a PhD (or if not, some other higher degree but with appropriate research experience at a high level.

Authoritative declarativesAlso direct mass balance measurements cannot a priori claim to exactly catch the end of the ablation season.

Call into doubt their expertiseThe statistical analysis seems sound, although I am not an expert in statistics.The website of the university in question states: [e]xaminers should be suitably qualified to undertake the task. Suitably qualified examiners: preferably have a PhD (or if not, some other higher degree but with appropriate research experience at a high level. It is therefore expected to see monoglossic authoritative declaratives expressing information about the field of the thesis. Also direct mass balance measurements cannot a priori claim to exactly catch the end of the ablation season. At time, the examiners draw attention to the level of their expertiseThe statistical analysis seems sound, although I am not an expert in statistics.

40ExpertExaminers exert their knowledge in the field in question and in terms of the genre/conventions of a thesis.Claims must be evidence basedA strong structure allows readers to know where to look for particular information and makes the reader more confident that all important information has been included

Distinguishing between reporter and expert when there is no attribution:Page 15 Free rotation of carbons adjacent to single bond in lycopene polyene carbon chain occurs only in those bonds which are not conjugatedThe website of the university in question states: [e]xaminers should be suitably qualified to undertake the task. Suitably qualified examiners: preferably have a PhD (or if not, some other higher degree but with appropriate research experience at a high level. It is therefore expected to see monoglossic authoritative declaratives expressing information about the field of the thesis. Also direct mass balance measurements cannot a priori claim to exactly catch the end of the ablation season. At time, the examiners draw attention to the level of their expertiseThe statistical analysis seems sound, although I am not an expert in statistics.

41Imperatives / roles EditorExaminerExpert

Pg. 19 - line 14 change 'the' to 'these' and 'to' to 'in and write in full sentences, explaining these observations

17. (2.1.2, Page 11, section 3, last line): Add e.g. "weathering rates and geomorphological activity", as the amount of rock walls alone are not decisive

Although the roles of the examiner, editor and expert can use prescriptive directives in the form of imperatives to request a change or correction, the editor role operates at the micro level, concerned with grammar, punctuation and spelling. The examiner role is concerned with the structure at the level of thesis, chapter and paragraph in terms of composition. In contrast, the expert role deals with ideational meanings, which would be beyond the scope of the editor role. Pg. 19 - line 14 change 'the' to 'these' and 'to' to 'in and write in full sentences, explaining these observations17. (2.1.2, Page 11, section 3, last line): Add e.g. "weathering rates and geomorphological activity", as the amount of rock walls alone are not decisive42Roles The commentator role is quite complex, 43Commentator According to the OED, a comment is a remark expressing an opinion or reaction [] especially of a critical nature.

Not prescriptive, formative or summative

Explicit intrusion on the message I

Formulaic expressions, attitude markers, personal musings What on earth has Donald Rumsfeld to do with marketing (quoted twice).I wonder if reciprocal blasts were used,

AFFECT, COVERT AFFECT I worry (-ve AFFECT:insecurity) about your mention of analysing relations among conceptsThis is an interesting (+ve APPRECIATION:reaction:impact) [] thesis This thesis interested me (+ve COVERT AFFECT:satisfaction)

The commentator role is not prescriptive, formative or summative; it does not serve to improve the thesis; it simply gives an opinion. There is plenty of room for negotiation; so much so that if the commentator comment were ignored it would not affect the outcome of the thesis The commentator uses Formulaic expressions, attitude markers, personal musings What on earth has Donald Rumsfeld to do with marketing (quoted twice).Frankly, given the small sample size, I don't think the regression analyses add much to the thesisI wonder if reciprocal blasts were used,Has AFFECT, COVERT AFFECT I worry (-ve AFFECT:insecurity) about your mention of analysing relations among conceptsThis is an interesting (+ve APPRECIATION:reaction:impact) [] thesis This thesis interested me (+ve COVERT AFFECT:satisfaction)Other realisations are grammatical third conditional which is often used to express regret could have, would have, should have. The use of the third conditional presents a comment as if it were too late to improve the thesis, unlike the second condition should could, which is often associated with advice..44Realised as grammar: Third conditional

Here are some examples of the third v. second conditional, taken from the concordancer.

453rd v. 2nd conditional/rolesCommentatorsupervisorI assume that they are the extracted cells, this could have been explained in the methods (or perhaps I have missed it). You could explain that exchange value is only a limited form of value creationAlso, more detail on how specific toxins act should have been given.You should consider stating here that this piece of research focuses on this subtype; It might have been useful here to compare the results obtained to those recently reported by Nauseef et al, and Palazzolo-Balance et al. .You might also consider some of the earlier work of Valire.More examples. 46Other multimodal realisations From the perspective of future work 3rd conditional is formative = peer roleMarked punctuationVery interesting!!P55. What is DRE??I'm curious -???

The commentator uses marked punctuation.47Roles The final role is that of the viva examiner. 48Viva examinerActual primary role: to ask questions at the viva.The role interrogative (technical term F^S)Prepare for the viva voce. Many types of questions not all viva examinersField: Thus, these questions are largely unanswered in the thesis and are exactly the questions I would like to discuss with the candidate during an oral exam.

The actual primary role of the viva examiner is to ask questions. The function of the examiner positioned as viva examiner is to prepare the candidate for the viva Therefore, the role is realised by the interrogative, and by the field: Thus, these questions are largely unanswered in the thesis and are exactly the questions I would like to discuss with the candidate during an oral exam.There are many types of questions though, and not all questions belong to the viva examiner. This means we have to look at other linguistic features to differentiate, say, between the supervisor, the editor and the commentator. 49Different types of questionsViva examinerSupervisor Commentator how was this controlled for? Normal human neonatal foreskin or adult skin?

Page 40, para 2: laboratory Page 51, para 1: is there really an apostrophe after its?what difference could this make? 2.5, p48, end of para 1: Should it be 'bone marrow cells' rather than 'white blood cells'? What on earth has Donald Rumsfeld to do with marketing (quoted twice).Page 67. (Clarify) What is a geomorphological region? Why were cell types chosen? How likely is this to relate to real cancer? Were all arrays exposed on the same piece of x-ray film?Are these separated by major rivers, faults or mountain ranges?4. Can the candidate outline/ suggest from the studies and their findings some quite direct applications in the joint flight crew and flight attendant training activities that would contribute to safety and efficiencies?

Can you speculate on how a particular type of siderophore would respond to such a pH change based on their acid base chemistry?

could you have used another site with a longer term record, such as Craigieburn, to test the hypothesis that the ERA dataset is better than the Tait?

The viva examiners questions are generally open ended or require a lot of information what, why, how. The supervisors questions tend to have the answer embedded in the question, so offering rather than asking for information, and the commentators questions have the voice intruding on the question in an almost sarcastic way. In addition, there can be requests as questions Can To distinguish we need to refer to other linguistic features. For example, candidate (Tenor = distant); you (Tenor = close) and Could you have used (third conditional) commentator 50FINAL REMARKSThe various roles and linguistic features are not isomorphic; rather roles are by a clustering of features.The complexity of interpreting the evaluation when there are a number of roles to grappleAs Sadler (2010: 537) states, students cannot convert feedback statements into actions for improvement without sufficient working knowledge of some fundamental conceptsA candidate might ask: Which comments do I need to act upon to get this thesis passed?Which comments might I consider in order to improve the thesis?Which comments can I return to later when considering publications?Which comments can I simply disregard?Are all roles necessary/appropriate?Can some comments be reworded so that they are given by a more authoritative role (examiner, editor)Should there be a feedback rubric that ties the comments in with APPRAISAL and TRANSITIVITY. Can discourse analysts collaborate with educators to create a metalanguage to share amongst examiners, candidates, and institutions. Having identified the roles, we conclude that relationship between the role and the linguistic feature is not isomorphic. There is no single linguistic feature which realises a particular role; however, when linguistic features cluster, the role becomes identifiable. We have shown that the correlation between roles and linguistic features is a complex study, yet this complexity has to be negotiated by the candidate when reading the report.Adopting the role of the candidate, we might ask: Which comments do I need to act upon to get this thesis passed?Which comments might I consider in order to improve the thesis?Which comments can I shelve until I consider publications?Which comments can I simply disregard?And this is a matter of understanding the function of the roles that examiners adopt.From the perspective of an educator we might ask:Are all roles necessary?Are some roles / comments inappropriate?Can some comments be reworded so that they are given by a more authoritative role (examiner, editor)?Should there be a feedback rubric that ties the comments in with APPRAISAL and TRANSITIVITY? Finally, Can we, as discourse analysts, collaborate with educators in higher education to raise the examiners and candidates awareness of the roles and evaluative language, and can we develop an examination metalanguage that could reduce the potential misinterpretations that are caused by ambiguous language and a lack of knowledge of examiners multiple roles. 51Is a more robust PhD assessment regime actually possible?

Reference ListBednarek, M. (2008). Emotion Talk Across Corpora. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.Delamont, S., Atkinson, P. and Parry, O. (2000). The Doctoral Experience: Success and Failure in Graduate School. Rouledge-Falmer: London and New York Hyland, K. 1998. Hedging in scientific research articles. Amsterdam: Benjamins.Hyland, F. and Hyland, K. 2001. Sugaring the pill: Praise and criticism in written feedback. Journal of Second Language Writing 10: 185212. Johnston, S. (1997a). Examining the examiners: An analysis of examiners reports on doctoral theses, Studies in Higher Education, 22, 3: 333--347.Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication. London and New York: Routledge. Kumar V. and Stracke, E. (2007). An analysis of written feedback on PhD thesis. Teaching in Higher Education 12(4): 461470.Kumar V. and Stracke, E. (2011). Examiners reports on theses: Feedback or assessment? Journal of English for Academic Purposes 10: 21--222. Leki, I. (1990). Coaching form the margins: Issues in written response. In B. Kroll (ed.), Second Language Writing: Research Insights for the Classroom, 5768. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Martin, J.R. and Rose, D. 2007. Working with Discourse: Meaning beyond the Clause. London: Continuum. Martin, J.R. and White, P.R.R. (2005). The language of evaluation: Appraisal in English. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Further researchGenre analysisStagesRoles in stagesClustering of rolesMicro structures

More transitivity analysis

55AFFECT

JUDGEMENT

APPRECIATION

Our role ProjectExamination of examiners reportsLinguistic perspective Language of evaluation, roles and function

We are part of a larger team researching the language of examiners report of PhD theses in the field of education. Our role is to examine the language of evaluation and other linguistic features.

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