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Course Module

English Skills
Enhancement
Learning Module 04

Writing Skills

Knowledge Area Code : LANG

Course Code : ESEN 0113
Learning Module Code : LM04-ESEN0113-0303
Course Packet Code : LM-ESEN 0113-02
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Learning Module 03

Writing Skills
Course Packet 03

Strategies for Writing a Review

of Related Studies and Literature

Knowledge Area Code : LANG

Course Code : ESEN 0113
Learning Module Code : LM04-ESEN 0113
Course Packet Code : LM04-ESEN 0113-03

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Course Packet 03
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Strategies for Writing a Review

of Related Studies and Literature
Introduction
The Learning Packets in this module are designed to guide the learners in practicing written
communication skills in various situations. Learning Packet 3 helps learners develop well-
organized paragraphs synthesizing various research and literature on a specific topic.

Objective
After completing this learning packet, the students must be able to write a review of the
literature and studies for research.

Learning Management System

The synchronous class sessions shall be conducted via Google Meet or any free online platform
as agreed upon by the professor and the students, while the asynchronous sessions shall be
administered via Google Classroom or any free learning management system (LMS)
collaboratively identified and decided as well by the professor and the students.

Duration
Learning Packet 3 may be completed in three (3) hours.

Delivery Mode
One (1) hour is allotted for the synchronous online class and the remaining two (2) hours will
be spent on independent learning tasks.

Assessment with Rubrics

Two types of assessment may be present in a learning packet: an objective test that provides a
limited set of options for the student’s response or a projective test that requires the student to
generate free responses.

For objective tests, one item is equivalent to one point unless indicated in the activity. For
projective tests, the rubrics below will be the basis of the student’s score:

Post-assessment Rubrics

Criteria 10-7 points 6-3 points 2-0 points

The overview The overview
The scope and focus
demonstrates the demonstrates a hint
Overview of the review are
clear scope and focus of the scope and
undetermined.
of the review focus of the review

The review highlights The review presents The review presents

Clarity the distinct literature and studies unrelated literature
contributions of the related to the topic. and studies.

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literature and studies

to the topic.

The review uses

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The review has a The review has an

appropriate language
Coherence recognizable flow of inconsistent flow of
to facilitate the logical
ideas. ideas.
flow of ideas.

The conclusion
The conclusion
synthesizes the major The conclusion is
summarizes the major
ideas and directs the unrelated to the
Conclusion ideas from the
readers to the main reviewed literature
literature and studies
goal of the research and studies.
reviewed.
paper.

The list of
references follows The list of The list of
References a specific citation references is references is not
style (e.g. APA 7th appended. appended.
edition).

Requirement with Rubrics

A learning packet may contain additional requirements that usually require the student to
generate free responses. The rubrics above shall be used in grading the student’s output unless
a different set is provided.

Readings

This packet focuses on organizing a review of related literature and studies for research. In
writing such a manuscript, references must be properly cited. Hence, additional readings on
APA 7th edition citation format are provided here to introduce you to the basics of APA
referencing style. To view the documents, click the links below.

• In-text Citation: The Basics

• In-text Citation: Author/s
• Footnotes and Endnotes
• Reference List: Basic Rules
• Reference List: Author/s
• Reference List: Articles and Periodicals
• Reference List: Books

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Introduction

One of the many purposes of writing an academic research paper is to offer new
insights about a specific topic. When compared with other existing studies and literature, your
study must say something that has not yet been said or must provide another way of looking
at a topic. To do this, your research paper must review previously written studies and literature
on the same topic to show similarities and highlight the points that make your study unique
and worth reading. Moreover, the review of literature and studies serves as a foundation and
as support for the new insights that you are putting forward. By presenting relevant literature
and studies, you are showing that other researchers have found interest in the topic you are
studying and that they have realized the significance of conducting the same research.

The review of literature and studies can be a critical comparison or a summary of

relevant resources to trace the intellectual progression including major debates on a specific
topic over the years. It usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and
synthesis. The sources covered in the review of literature may include but are not limited to
published essays, books, government reports, manuals, specialized magazines, and official
websites. For the review of studies, the sources may include published and unpublished
research work by reputable organizations, institutions, and individuals.

In the activity below, you will be presented with several materials and their titles that
can be used either for a review of literature or a review of studies.

Pre-Assessment. Put RL before the reference that can be used for a review of literature and put RS if
it can be used for a review of studies.

1. Burhans, L.M. & Alligood, M.R. (2010). Quality nursing care in the words of nurses.
Journal of Advanced Nursing 66(8), 1689–1697.

2. Peterzell, J. (1990, April). Better late than never. Time Magazine, 135(17), 20–21.

3. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition) (ISBN 13: 978-
1433832161; ISBN 10: 143383216X)

4. Dominici, G. & Guzzo, R. (2010). Customer satisfaction: The case of the hotel industry.
International Journal of Marketing Studies 2(2), 3-12.

5. Kayri, I., Gencoglu, M.T. & Kayri, M. (2012). Computer-assisted education and its
effects on the academic success of students in the lighting technique and indoor
installation project course. International Journal of Advances in Engineering & Technology
2(1), 51-61.

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6. Ragheb, A., El-Simy, H. & Ragheb, G. (2015). Green architecture: An analysis of the
concept of sustainability. Journal of Urban Planning and Architecture Design for Sustainable
Development 1(2), 778-787
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7. Vakilifard, A. (2019). Perceptual learning styles preferences: A comparison between

Persian language learners in second and foreign language settings. Journal of English
Language and Technical Learning 11(24), 303-322

8. Belcher, W. (2019). Writing your journal article in twelve weeks: A guide to academic
publishing success (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press.

9. David, A., & Simpson, J. (Eds.). (2006). The Norton anthology of English literature: The
Middle Ages (8th ed., Vol. A). W. W. Norton and Company.

10. National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Mental health conditions.

https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions

Lesson Proper

Review. As you may already know, the library is one of the best places to go to when writing
a research paper. Library collections these days are supplemented by online resources or
references. So if you cannot find the article you are looking for through Google Scholar, you
may ask your campus librarians to assist you in using the online and printed resources of your
university.

An important step to writing the review of literature and studies is to make sure that the
articles you found are relevant to your research topic. To do this, you will need to look for
some keywords on the article’s title and skim its content to get an idea of its general purpose.
Look into the introduction and first few paragraphs and the conclusion of the article to know
if an article can contribute to your research paper.

• Activity. Suppose that you are writing research on students’ distance learning experiences. You
are attempting to find out the various teacher-assisted and independent learning circumstances
experienced by university students through collecting their written narratives about their
synchronous and asynchronous online classes. Tick five (5) titles that are likely to be relevant to
your research topic.

_____ Factors influencing faculty satisfaction with online teaching

_____ Online learning in higher education: An exploratory study of students’ experiences
_____ Virtual interaction: Teachers’ best practices in asynchronous classes
_____ DepEd reports learners’ difficulties in online learning
_____ Online learning: A threat to students’ security?
_____ Learning opportunities during a pandemic: Students’ satisfaction with online classes
_____ Learning styles and culturally diverse students
_____ Barriers to online learning: A factor analytic study thru students’ perspectives
_____ The relationship of social presence and interaction
_____ The importance of parents and teachers’ support to students’ learning preferences

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• Processing of the Activity. List down the titles you have selected from the list above and justify
why you think they are related to the topic students’ distance learning experiences.
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What can be its connection with my

Article title research topic students’ distance learning
experiences?

• Brief Lesson. After properly identifying articles that are likely to be relevant to your research
topic, you are now ready to write a review of related literature and studies.

Take note of the following tips:

Define the coverage of your review. When you have access to a lot of articles on your topic,
the tricky part of writing a literature and study review is deciding at what point you are
finished with collecting articles. It is advisable to cover the last five years, but you may
also include earlier studies if they serve as landmarks in the field.

Evaluate the articles; do not just rewrite them. Your review is not a mere collection of
different articles, but rather an analysis of their significant contribution to the
development of your research topic.

Identify relationships among the articles. You may note landmark research that led to
subsequent studies in the same area. You may also categorize the studies into groups
based on what aspects of the topic they focused on, their research methods, or the type of
data they analyzed.

Take note of the articles' strong and weak points. Emphasize the articles’ major focus and
what may still be discussed that the articles did not cover. Although you are dealing with
authors who wrote about the same topic, they may vary in the aspects they prioritized in
the writing of their articles. The gaps in their articles can serve as entry points to introduce
the significance of your research work.

Below is an example of an outline of literature and studies for your research paper with the
title Effects of Virtual Teams on Students’ Online Learning Behavior. In the first column, the
outline identifies whether the reference is a literature about the topic or a study whose results
relate to your study. In the second column, the name of the author/s and the year when their
work was published are indicated. The third column contains the summary of the relevant
statements found in the author/s’ work. Finally, the fourth column contains a brief analysis of
the article, its relationship to the topic, and to other articles in the outline.

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Note: Some of the details of the manuscript have been modified to highlight the basic organizational structure of a
review of literature and studies.
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Author/s (Year of What is its

Study/Literature publication of their What do they say? connection to my
work) topic?
A virtual team is a group of individuals who used
information technologies to work across time, it defines the term
Literature Loh & Smith (2018)
space, and organizational boundaries to achieve ‘virtual team’
organizational goals.
They contend that students can learn valuable
Becker & Dwyer (2018) suggests potential
lessons such as communication and problem-
Black (2017) (positive) effects of
Literature solving skills which are transferable to the real
Haythornthwaiten (2016) teamwork on
work environment through group work.
learners

uses a theory to
Hiltz, Coppola, Rotter, & Based on social facilitation theory, working in
support the
Turoff (2019) groups better enhances students’ learning
Literature potential (positive)
perceptions, problem-solving skills, and overall
effects of teams on
learning abilities than learning alone.
learners
explains the theory
Cook (2018) Social facilitation is the tendency that people mentioned by
Literature often perform better in the presence of others than Hiltz, Coppola,
alone. Rotter, & Turoff
(2019).
They found out that there were challenges
associated with group work such as increased reports the
time, social loafing, and free riding. potential (negative)
Roberts & McInnerney effects of teams on
Study They added that these challenges are not limited
(2017) learners (that can
to face to face groups but may be exacerbated
be worse during
among virtual group members.
virtual learning)

They found out that social loafing can be induced

when there is “distance” between group members. provides a specific
example of
Distance creates a feeling of isolation among potential (negative)
Suleiman & Watson group members and this inevitably led members effect of teams on
Study to contribute significantly less effort in teams than learners, that is,
(2018)
when working alone. social loafing
explains the reason
for social loafing

They found out that in addition to distance, the provides a specific

size of the virtual group was also an important factor (i.e. size of
Chidambaram and Lai indicator of whether or not group members will group) that
Study
(2015) “free ride”. motivates the
(negative) effect of
teams on learners
Freeriding occurs when an individual shoulders
Albanese & Van Fleet
less than their fair share of the work and yet explains what free
Literature (2015)
shares in the benefits of the group. riding is
Jones (2014)

Now that you have identified the relevance of the articles to your topic, what do you think
makes your research paper different? One obvious difference is that the majority of the articles
you reviewed did not talk about “virtual” teams. Only Roberts & McInnerney’s (2017) work
mentioned the possible worse effects of teams on students when learning happens virtually.
Thus, you have identified the research gap that your study will fill.

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After going over the articles you have collected and analyzed, start developing your
paragraphs and organizing them to make a coherent presentation of related literature and
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studies. Let us put together the literature and studies above and form a coherent review by
following these writing tips.

Developing a Coherent Review of Related Literature and Studies1

Tips on developing a
coherent literature and
Example
study review (adapted
from Galvan, 2006: 91-96)

As virtual team becomes This sentence suggests that the

1. Provide an increasingly popular, instructors
overview. Use the
review will focus on virtual team
and administrators are working
and online learning behavior of
keyword/s of your hard to improve students’
online learning experience. students.
topic.

Although the dynamics of online

learning experiences in an It highlights that the study is
2. Specify your point about the effects of virtual team
educational setting have been
of view. This well studied, the use of virtual on learners’ behavior, which
serves as the thesis teams presents new insights can be negative or positive as
statement of the concerning how physical, your review will show in the next
temporal and social sentences.
review.
separation of learners affect
learners’ learning behavior.

Loh and Smith (2018) defined a

virtual team as a group of
individuals who used information sets a clear definition of the
technologies to work across
keyword of your study, virtual
time, space, and organizational
3. Aim for a clear and boundaries to achieve
team.
cohesive essay that organization goals. The basic
integrates the key concept behind virtual team your explanation on how the
applies to a group of students definition relates to your study.
details of the
working together online for a
literature and task. Proponents of group work
communicates contend that students can learn
your point of view. valuable lessons such as a literature that presents one of
Use transitions to communication and problem- the positive effects of group
solving skills which are work.
help trace your transferable to the real work
argument environment (Becker & Dwyer,
2018; Black, 2017;
Haythornthwaite, 2016). Working
in groups is thought to better
enhance students’ learning another literature that cites the
perceptions, problem-solving benefits of group work.
skills, and overall learning

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abilities than learning alone

(Hiltz, Coppola, Rotter, & Turoff,
2019). Therefore, developing
your way of putting together the
learners’ ability to work
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effectively in a virtual team

implication of the literature on
setting may be considered to be your study.
an important pedagogical goal
for many higher education
institutions. This assumption is
based on the theory of social providing support to your idea
facilitation. Social facilitation is by citing a reference.
the tendency that people often
perform better in the presence of
others than alone (Cook, 2018).
Although many distance
education programs incorporate your observation after reading
various versions of a cooperative the literature and studies related
and collaborative task as part of to your research.
a virtual team formal online
group activities among virtual
teams have not been extensively
researched. Suleiman and
Watson (2018) found that social
loafing can be induced when
there is “distance” between a study that shows the other side
group members. They said of group work and implies the
distance creates a feeling of effect of distance
isolation among group members
and this inevitably led members
to contribute significantly less
effort in teams than when
working alone. Chidambaram
and Lai (2015) found that in
addition to distance, the size of
another study on the negative
the group was also an important
indicator of whether or not group effect of group work and implies
members “pull their weight”. group size as the cause of the
Freeriding is another problem problem
that might affect virtual teams.
Freeriding occurs when an
individual shoulders less than a literature that clarifies the
their fair share of the work and
yet shares in the benefits of the
term ‘free riding’
group (Albanese & Van Fleet,
2015; Jones, 2014).

4. Provide closure so Many of the challenges a study that recommends what

that the path of the associated with group work such
can still be done in this area of
as increased time, social loafing
argument ends research
and free riding are not limited to
with a conclusion face to face groups but may be
of some kind. How exacerbated among virtual
you end the group members (Roberts & summarizing what the literature
McInnerney, 2017). Indeed, and the previous studies say –
review, however,
although the literature and how similar and different were
will depend on studies presented both touched they from your research

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your reason for on the positive and negative

writing it. effects of group work, very few
of them paid particular attention
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to virtual teams. Thus, the aim

of the present study is to identify ending with the goal of your
more potential effects of virtual research paper
teams on the students’ learning
behavior.
(see below)
5. Provide the
alphabetical list of Note the suggested citation style
references. under the “Readings” of this
course packet.

References:

Albanese, R., & Van Fleet, D.D. (2015). Rational behavior in groups. Academic Publishing

Becker, D., & Dwyer, M. (2018). Asynchronous Learning Networks. Torch Publishing House

Black, G. (2017). Assessment of virtual teams. Canada: H&H Publishing

Chidambaram, L., & Lai, L.T. (2015). Is out of sight, out of mind: An empirical study of social
loafing in technology-supported groups. Information Systems Research, 16, 149-169.

Cook, R. (2018). Social psychology. Pengrave Publishing

Hiltz, S.R., Coppola, N., Rotter, N., & Turoff, M. (2019). Collaborative learning. Peter Jones
Publishing

Jones, G.R. (2014). Task visibility, free riding, and shirking. Academic Publishing

Haythornthwaite, C. (2016). Facilitating online learning. H&H Publishing

Roberts, T. S., & McInnerney, J. M. (2017). Problems of online group learning. Educational
Technology & Society, 10, 257-268.

Suleiman, J., & Watson, R.T. (2018). Social loafing in technology-supported teams. Computer
Supported Cooperative Work, 17, 291-309.

Loh, T. & Smith, J. (2018). Virtual teams. St. Andrews University Press

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• Enhancement Activity. Your initial research topic may be broadly stated like the ones
Course Packet 03

you will find below. To know what research direction you can take, choose any topic
on the list and fill out the column with the required information:
o students’ disaster preparedness
o youth leadership and community engagement
o gender-inclusive university programs
o empowering students with disabilities
o students’ self-efficacy and career planning

Note: The types of material may depend on the students’ available resources.

Topic: _______________________________________________________________

List of related literature and studies:

Reference citation in
What is its
APA format (use the
Materials What does the material say? connection to my
links under the Readings
topic?
of this course packet)
book (or
electronic copy of
a book chapter)

book (or electronic

copy of a book
chapter)

online feature
article

a research article
from an online
journal

a research article
from an online
journal

unpublished
thesis

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• Generalization.
1. Where did you find the majority of your references?
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___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

2. What challenges have you encountered while looking for literature and studies?
___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

3. What technique did you use to overcome the challenges you encountered while
searching for related literature and studies?
___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

• Application. Write the first draft of your review of literature and studies by putting together
the materials you found in the Enhancement Activity of this course packet. Use the tips for
writing a review as your guide.

Topic: _________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

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Course Packet Discussion Forum

Why is the review of related literature and studies section/chapter important to your research paper?
Course Packet 03

___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

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Post-Assessment
Finalize your review of literature and studies on the topic you have selected from the
Post-Assessment

Enhancement Activity of this course packet. Add seven (7) related literature and
seven (7) related studies published within the last 10 years.

Post-assessment Rubrics

Criteria 10-7 points 6-3 points 2-0 points

The overview The overview
The scope and focus
demonstrates the demonstrates a hint
Overview of the review are
clear scope and focus of the scope and
undetermined.
of the review focus of the review

The review highlights

the distinct The review presents The review presents
Clarity contributions of the literature and studies unrelated literature
literature and studies related to the topic. and studies.
to the topic.

The review uses

The review has a The review has an
appropriate language
Coherence recognizable flow of inconsistent flow of
to facilitate the logical
ideas. ideas.
flow of ideas.

The conclusion
The conclusion
synthesizes the major The conclusion is
summarizes the major
ideas and directs the unrelated to the
Conclusion ideas from the
readers to the main reviewed literature
literature and studies
goal of the research and studies.
reviewed.
paper.

The list of
references follows The list of The list of
References a specific citation references is references is not
style (e.g. APA 7th appended. appended.
edition).

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References
1. Galvan, J. (2006). Writing literature reviews: A guide for students of the
References

behavioral sciences. Pyrczak Publishing

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Learner’s Feedback Form

Learner’s Feedback Form

Name of Student:
__________________________________________________________
Program :
__________________________________________________________
Year Level : ______________ Section :
__________________
Faculty :
__________________________________________________________
Schedule :
__________________________________________________________

Course Packet : Code : _________ Title :

__________________________________

How do you feel about the topic or concept presented?

 I completely get it.  I’m struggling.

 I’ve almost got it.  I’m lost.

In what particular portion of this course packet, you feel that you are struggling
or lost?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
____________________________________

Did you raise your concern to your instructor?  Yes 

No

If Yes, what did he/she do to help you?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
____________________________________

If No, state your reason?

________________________________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
____________________________________
Learner’s Feedback Form

To further improve this course packet, what part do you think should be
enhanced?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
____________________________________

How do you want it to be enhanced?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
____________________________________

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Learning Module: English Skills Enhancement 17