Understanding the language of evaluation in examiners' reports on doctoral theses

Despite their high stakes nature, examiners' reports on doctoral theses are a relatively unexplored genre. Very little work has been done, further, on how evaluative language constructs meanings in the reports. To better understand the evaluative language used in the reports, this study analyses the examination criteria established by a university in New Zealand and draws on the appraisal framework to examine 142 examiners' reports from that institution. We explore the examiners' reports through the generalised systems of attitude and engagement and extend the framework by suggesting more delicate options within appreciation and judgement and introduce two new concepts, covert judgement and embedded judgement. While it is primarily the thesis that is appreciated in the reports, in line with the university's examination criteria, it is often the case that the candidate is also judged and the examiner is affected.