Generic Structure of an Important, but Neglected, Academic Genre, Undergraduate Thesis Defence Examination, and its Pedagogic Implications. A Collective Case Study at Four Universities in Aceh and North Sumatra Provinces, Indonesia

Abstract

Thesis defence examination (TDE) is an important event for students to complete to pursue their degree in many countries. Following Swales (1990, 2004) TDE can be considered as a class of communicative events, which has its own genre that has elements (or parts). Understanding the genre of an event could help students to perform competently. One major element of the TDE genre is its generic structure. Mastering this structure is important as it can give a frame which can guide learners in preparing for and performing in the TDE. Although a few researchers have argued that the structure could limit the creativity of students, the authors of this article adopt the positive position of other researchers who found that the structure is beneficial at least for beginners because the structure gives them an idea of the overal form of the TDE, which can provide them with a direction to follow with some degree of creativity to exercise, and when they have acquired the common structure, they can exercise their creativity as they like. Without a common structure as a model, at least some, if not all, students would struggle as found in our interviews with our research participants. As in many other countries, in Indonesia, the TDE is an activity that university students have to pass in order to graduate in all degrees including undergraduate degrees. However, there is no research-based information on the genre has been found. This issue has been questioned by academic communities not only in the country but also overseas. This study, which is part of a broader study, is an attempt to fill the gap. The data for this research were collected using qualitative methods, which include direct and indirect observations, video recordings, note taking, and interviews with students and examiners. The field research was carried out in Aceh and North Sumatera provinces, Indonesia, for eight months. This article reports the results of the study.