Strong stereotypes persist in Western Anglo academic contexts regarding perceived differences in domestic and international students’ critical thinking. Limited research has investigated whether a lack of critical thinking in academic writing stems from the student’s conceptualisation of the concept or their proficiency to demonstrate critical thinking in their academic writing. This study determined to understand how Australian and Chinese students used voice in academic writing to demonstrate critical thinking in their literature review. Using Kobayashi and Rinnert's (2023) model of voice aspects, this research examined the textual features which students employed to project their criticality to the reader. Findings indicated that, in addition to the textual features in Kobayashi and Rinnert's (2023) model of voice aspects, lexical choice and variation in citation purpose play a crucial role in projecting the writer’s critical thinking in literature reviews. The study suggests that English language proficiency and academic writing ability had a more significant influence on the demonstration of critical thinking than cultural background.

Authors:
Melissa Tomlins, The University of Queensland, Australia

About the Presenter(s)
Ms Melissa Tomlins is a Doctoral Student at The University of Queensland, Australia. Her research investigates the critical thinking and academic writing of international and domestic postgraduate students.

Connect on Linkedin
http://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-tomlins

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