1、Week 6 Introduction Instructor:Zhencong Liu ContentsStructure of the thesisStructure of introductionTypical moves in thesis introductionsUseful expressions and phrasesWhen to write introductionFunctions of Introductionto create a research space for the writer(Swales and Feak1994)Create a Research Sp
2、ace(CARS)framework(Swales1990)The typical structure of the Introductionto establish a research territory;to identify a niche or gap in the territory;to signal how the topic in question occupies that niche.(Swales and Feak 1994)CHAPTER 1:INTRODUCTIONA.Background(general context of the situation,story
3、 of the research A.Background(general context of the situation,story of the research problem)problem)B.Motivation B.Motivation C.Problem Statement C.Problem Statement D.Objectives and Research Questions D.Objectives and Research Questions E.Overall Research Methodology E.Overall Research Methodology
4、 F.Definitions of Terms F.Definitions of Terms G.Significance of the Study G.Significance of the Study a.Theoretical Contributions a.Theoretical Contributions b.Practical Contributions b.Practical Contributions H.Assumptions of the Study H.Assumptions of the Study a.Theoretical Assumption a.Theoreti
5、cal Assumption b.Methodological Assumption b.Methodological Assumption I.Hypotheses I.Hypotheses J.Related Work J.Related Work K.Scope and Limitations of the Study K.Scope and Limitations of the Study L.Organization and Overview of the DissertationL.Organization and Overview of the DissertationEstab
6、lishing a nicheFor Swales and Feak(1994),the metaphor of the niche or research space is based on the idea of competition in ecology academic writers seeking to publish are just like plants and animals competing for light and space.Elsewhere,when describing writing a conference abstract,Swales and Fe
7、ak(2000)use a marketing metaphor to talk about selling ones research,and the niche metaphor can be extended to the notion of niche marketing identifying a specific gap in the market which the new product can fill.How to establish a niche?In Move 2 of the framework,the writer typically establishes a
8、niche by indicating a gap in the previous research or possibly extending a current research approach into a new area.It is through the review of prior research that the gap is established.“gap statements”:evaluative and negative One class of quality improvement which has not received much attention
9、is enhancement by broadening the bandwidth of coded speech without an increase in the bit rate.This is surprising since the notion of quality as a function of speech bandwidth is anticipated to become more pervasive(Epps 2000:4).Due to the complexity of the flow problems there are few analytic model
10、s of fluid flows,but the advent of digital computers has stimulated the development of numerical method for the modeling of flow(Norris 2000:1).Indeed,there appeared to be a story of female agitation for Aboriginal rights in twentieth century Australia that had largely gone unnoticed up to that poin
11、t,and in the context of contemporary feminist politics was positively denied(Holland 1998:1).“gap statements”:evaluative and negative Although it became accepted that episodic recharge might be a factor in the agricultural areas of Western Australia(e.g.Nulsen 1993),no systematic analyses of where a
12、nd when it occurred,and how important it was in the overall picture of groundwater recharge and salinity were carried out(Lewis 2000:6).These observations point to the proposition that in order to recognize the mismatches and to begin to understand the consequences of discontinuities,there is a need
13、 to increase research knowledge of community social practices and interactions with community literacies(White-Davison 1999:2).It is important to take issue with his criticism of the role of structuralism and post-structuralism(Wakeling 1998:5).“gap statement”words and phrasesVerbs:Verbs:disregard,n
14、eglect to consider,fail to consider overestimate,ignore,overlook,is limited to,suffer from,misinterpret,underestimateAdjectives:Adjectives:controversial,questionable,incomplete,unconvincing,inconclusive,unsatisfactory,misguidedNoun phraseNoun phraseLittle information/attention/work/data/researchFew
15、studies/investigations/researchers/attemptsNo studies/data/calculationsNone of these studies/findings/calculationsOther formsOther formsHoweverIt remains unclearIt would be of interest toMetadiscourse:discourse about discourse“Chapter 2 examines”;“this thesis argues that”;“the following section revi
16、ews”.“the focus of this thesis is on”;“the plan for this thesis is”“This thesis/study describes;develops;studies;discusses;examines;introduces;aims(to);reports;explores;shows;focuses;presents.”IntroductionProvide the necessary background information Provide the necessary background information to pu
17、t your work into to put your work into context.context.It should be clear from the introduction:lWhy the current work was performedWhy the current work was performedlAims and significanceAims and significancelWhat has been done beforeWhat has been done beforelWhat was done and achieved(in brief term
18、s)What was done and achieved(in brief terms)Be comprehensive in coverage of approaches,Be comprehensive in coverage of approaches,but also try to be brief.but also try to be brief.Do not simply catalog papers and ideas!Do not simply catalog papers and ideas!DOs in Introductionl“Set the sceneSet the
19、scene”lOutline“Outline“the problemthe problem”and hypotheses,and”and hypotheses,and frame these within the existing frame these within the existing literatureliteraturelEnsure that the literature cited is Ensure that the literature cited is balanced,balanced,up to date and relevantup to date and rel
20、evantlDefineDefine any non-standard abbreviations and any non-standard abbreviations and jargonjargonDONTs in IntroductionlWrite an extensive review of the fieldlCite disproportionally your own work,work of colleagues or work that supports your findings while ignoring contradictory studies or work b
21、y competitorslDescribe methods,results or conclusions other than to outline what was done and achieved in the final paragraphlOveruse terms like“novel”and“for the first time”A definition is the meaning of a word or phrase.E.g.“Art”is a visual object or experience consciously created as an expression
22、 of skill or imagination.Structure of a Definition A definition consists of three elements:(1)the term itself,(2)the category the term belongs to (3)the features of the term.Traditionally,a definition consists of the genus(the family)of thing to which the defined thing belongs,and the differentia(th
23、e distinguishing feature which marks it off from other members of the same family).(Wikipedia,2009).E.g.“Triangle”is defined as“a plane figure(genus)bounded by three straight sides(differentia)”Criteria of a Good Definition 1.Follow rules that have traditionally been given for definition.2.State the
24、 essential attributes of that which is defined.3.Give examples of usage.4.Avoid circularity.5.Must be neither too broad or too narrow nor leave out any appropriate information,nor include that which does not truly apply.6.Must not be obscure.7.Should not be stated in the negative when it can be stat
25、ed positively.E.g.“Wisdom”should not be defined as“absence of folly”.Sample Introduction 1Amy,S.W.(2000)A radio study of selected regions in the Magellanic Clouds,unpublished PhD thesis,University of Sydney.Available online at:(accessed 12 September 2006).Assignment1.Structure of IntroductionStructu
26、re of Introduction:Select an MA thesis and analyze the Introduction section by providing its major components,language expressions and key words.Assignment2.Introduction WritingIntroduction Writing A n a l y z e t h e d i f f e r e n t t y p e s o f introduction and decide on which type you would li
27、ke to use for your paper.Then write the introduction of your paper in a clear manner.Assignment3.Introduction ComparisonIntroduction Comparison:Briefly discuss differences between research article Introductions and thesis Introductions as students will be more familiar with journal articles.Then exa
28、mine a research article and a thesis on a similar topic in your area of study and draw up a list of similarities and differences in the Introductions to each of them.Assignment4.Move AnalysisMove Analysis:Ask students to bring along theses from their field to analyse or provide examples of chapters
29、for them to analyse and annotate themselves.Ask them to use the framework by Swales and Feak(1994)for their analysis.If some of the moves are not present,ask them to reflect on why they may not be there.ReferencesDay,R.，Gastel,B.(1998).How to write and publish a scientific paper(5th edn).Cambridge:C
30、ambridge University Press,Chapter 7,How to Write the Introduction,pp.33-35.Lunenburg,F.C.,&Irby,B.J.(2008).Writing a successful thesis or dissertation:tips and strategies for students in the social and behavioral sciences.Thousand Oaks,California:Corwin Press,Inc.Paltridge,B.,&Starfield,S.(2007).The
31、sis and Dissertation Writing in a Second Language:A handbook for supervisors.Oxford:Routledge.Pyrczak,F.,&Bruce,R.R.(2005).A Basic Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences,5th edn.Glendale,CA:Pyrczak Publishing.*Turabian,K.(1996).A manual for writers of research papers,theses,and dissertations,6th edition.Chicago and London:The University of Chicago Press,Chapters 7 and 10.*Wallace,S.(2015).How to write and submit an academic paper in 18 weeks.Beijing:Peking University Press.如何成为学术论文写作高手。北京：北大出版社。
