How critical information literacy challenges Chinese international research students : a content analysis of their literature review documents

The standard of research papers and theses produced by international bi- or multilingual students troubles their native English speaking supervisors. Most concerns have been focused on students' genre issues such as wording, English grammar, sentence structure and connection of paragraphs. However, particularly in literature reviews, students need to know how to critically present the information of other researchers to serve their own needs. This aspect has been largely overlooked. This paper explores how a group of Chinese international Higher Degree Research students made use of information in their research writing. The nine participants were studying for a research Masters Degree in Education in an Australian university. This study involved a content analysis of the initial drafts of their literature review. Evidence reveals that the students were challenged in their critical information use. This includes evaluating information in their research context; synthesizing information to construct new concepts; transforming information to accomplish their specific purpose, and in presenting information to suit their reader.