WRITING THE INTRODUCTION

By Asarika Fajarini

INTRODUCTION

As undergraduate student, it is becoming essential to know and understand about writing thesis. Many of students still confused when they want to write a thesis. The aim of this paper was to share how to write thesis particularly in introduction chapter.  According to Swales in Paltridge (2007) : thesis introduction is of strategic importance; its key role is to create a research space of the writer. Wallwork (2011) said that introduction present the background knowledge that readers need so that they can appreciate how the finding of the paper are an advance on current knowledge in the field.

Not only does the introduction contain thesis statement, but it provides the initial impression of argument, writing style, and the overall quality of work. A clear, concise, well-organized, and engaging introduction will help to efficiently set-up the paper. The introduction must captivate audience’s attention and interest. Otherwise, the audience may not be convinced to continue reading. Think about a text that have read or even a movie that have seen whose beginning lost interest. Probably we put down the book or changed the channel.

Introduction also serves as a preview for the remainder of paper, conveying necessary background information to readers, identifying topic and its significance, and unveiling how it will organize the essay. An effective introduction also establishes the voice as a writer and point of view towards topic. For a thesis-driven paper, provide an overview of basic argument and why will attempt to convince reader of stance on a particular issue. If the paper deviates from the general outline suggested in the introduction, then consider reworking the introduction.

DISCUSSION

A.    The role of the introductory chapter in the thesis:

Based on Paltridge (2007) the role of the Introduction in relation to the thesis is as a whole, the typical structure of the Introduction and some of the linguistic characteristics of thesis Introductions.

1.      Creating a research space

The growing variation in thesis structure and organization at the macro-level, it is useful to begin by considering the role of the Introduction in relation to the thesis in its entirety. The thesis is said to be shaped like an hourglass that is open at the top and bottom (see Figure 6.1 on p.84). The Introduction sits in the upper open end of the hourglass bowl to indicate that it is in the Introduction that the researcher clearly signals the relationship between the specific topic of the thesis and the field of work into which the thesis is being inserted.

2.      How long should the Introduction be?

Typically, the introductory chapter is one of the shorter chapters of the entire thesis. According Bunton in Paltridge (2007 that Introductions from medicine were particularly long (29–45 pages) and it was because they included the substantial review of the literature. Where social sciences and arts Introductions did this, they were also over 40 pages in length. Certain humanities’ (arts) theses may not have separate literature review chapters but that a review of the literature is conducted in the introductory chapter. However, 32 of the Introductions examined by Bunton did not have more references to the literature than any other of the thesis chapters. This finding underlines one of the key differences between the research article and the thesis mentioned above – the almost obligatory separate literature review chapter.

3.      The typical structure of the Introduction

In the introduction of your thesis, you’ll be trying to do three main things, which are called Moves:

a.     Move 1 establish your territory (say what the topic is about)

The writer typically begins to carve out his/her own research space by indicating that the general area is in some way significant. This is often done through reviewing previous research in the field. In addition, the writer may choose to provide background information on the particular topic being investigated and may define key terms which are essential for the study.

b.     Move 2 establish a niche (show why there needs to be further research on your topic)

The writer typically establishes a 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. It is through the review of prior research that the gap is established. The language of ‘gap statements’, according to Atkinson and Curtis (1998: 63) is typically evaluative in a negative way. The lists below, from Swales and Feak (1994: 187–189), contain examples of typical ‘gap statement’ words and phrases which may be useful for the nonnative English speaker.

Verbs

disregard                     neglect to consider

fail to consider            overestimate

ignore                          overlook

is limited to                 suffer from

misinterpret                 underestimate

Adjectives

controversial                questionable

incomplete                   unconvincing

inconclusive                 unsatisfactory

misguided

Noun phrase

Little information/attention/work/data/research

Few studies/investigations/researchers/attempts

No studies/data/calculations

None of these studies/findings/calculations

c.      Move 3 then signal how the topic in question occupies that niche (make hypotheses; state the research questions)

The writer, by outlining the purposes of their own research, indicates to the reader how the proposed research will ‘fill’ the identified niche or gap. In a thesis, the principal findings will frequently be previewed and theoretical positions as well as methods used may be outlined. It is here that the writer can signal the value or significance of the research. In this move the overall structure of the thesis is previewed, including a mini-synopsis of each chapter is considered obligatory. Its typically contains much metadiscourse. Metadiscourse (also referred to as metatext) refers to discourse about discourse; how writers talk about their writing and the structure of their writing, when they are not talking about the content of their writing (Bunton in Paltridge (2007).

Each Move has a number of stages. Depending on what you need to say in your introduction, you might use one or more stages. Most thesis introductions include some (but not all) of the stages listed below. There are variations between different schools and between different theses, depending on the purpose of the thesis.

Stages in a thesis introduction:

1.    State the general topic and give some background

2.    Provide a review of the literature related to the topic

3.    Define the terms and scope of the topic

4.    Outline the current situation

5.    Evaluate the current situation (advantages/ disadvantages) and identify the gap

6.    Identify the importance of the proposed research

7.    State the research problem/ questions

8.    State the research aims and/or research objectives

9.    State the hypotheses

10.                        Outline the order of information in the thesis

11.                        Outline the methodology

B.     Keys skill needed in writing introduction:

Wallwolk said that a key skill is to be able to say the same things that have been said many times before but in a different, interesting, intriguing way.

1.      The structure of the introduction

An Introduction generally answers the following questions. You can use the answers to these questions to structure your Introduction.

• What is the problem?

• Are there any existing solutions (i.e. in the literature)?

• Which solution is the best?

• What is its main limitation? (i.e. What gap am I hoping to fill?)

• What do I hope to achieve?

• Have I achieved what I set out to do?

The aim of introduction is to include only enough background information to allow your reader to understand why you are asking the questions you are, in what context they appear, and why your hypotheses, predictions or expected results are reasonable. It is like a preview to the rest of the paper. Thus nearly every Introduction, irrespectively of the discipline, would incorporate those parts marked with an asterisk (*).There is ten parts of it.

a.       Part 1 definition of the topic plus background

This introductory phrase may not be necessary in your paper. This is the place to include notations, technical definitions, and explanations of key words. It sets the context for the information that will follow in, which may be less familiar for your readers. Readers want to quickly learn what the specific topic of your research is, they are much less interested in being reminded how important the general area of research is.

b.      Part 2 accepted state of the art plus problem to be resolved

This part should state in simple and clear language exactly what the problem is, why you chose it, why you claim it is important.

c.       Part 3 authors’ objectives

Here the authors outline their major objectives, i.e. how they intend to fill the gap. Parts 6 and 7 (see next page) could be incorporated here. This part also serves as a transition into the review of the literature.

d.      Part 4 introduction to the literature

This introduces the background literature that the authors intend to refer to in order to motivate their particular research. It makes a reference to current insufficient knowledge of the topic.

e.       Part 5 survey of pertinent literature

This part reviews the literature in the author’s precise field. As in the previous part, it often draws attention to problems that have still not been solved. For example, you may think a particular study did not investigate some necessary aspect of the area, or how the authors failed to notice some problem with their results. You only need to describe what is necessary for the specific purposes of your paper. Much of this literature will then be used for comparative purposes in the Discussion. The length of the literature review (i.e. Parts 4 and 5) is ranges from a paragraph to several pages.

f.       Part 6 authors’ contribution

Here the authors make a very clear statement of how what they describe in the paper represents an advance on current knowledge (i.e. the knowledge outlined in parts 2, 4 and 5).

g.      Part 7 aim of the present work

This statement of the goal to be reached is essential in any Introduction. It should be in a separate paragraph and expressed so that the referee (and readers) are 100% clear about the objectives of your research and the expected outcome. You will need to tell readers what method you used and possibly why you chose this method.

h.      Part 8 main results of the present work

Although your main results will be given in other sections of your paper (typically in your Abstract, Results, Discussion and Conclusions), many authors also announce them here to show how the background situation plus their contribution have led to particular results.

i.        Part 9 future implications of the work

Some authors prefer to delay mentioning implications to the Discussion or even to the Conclusions. However, mentioning implications here gives readers an instant idea of the possible importance of your work, which may be useful for them as they read the rest of the paper.

j.        Part 10 outline of structure

This may not be necessary if the structure of your paper is completely standard for your chosen journal, and thus readers will already know in what order the various elements of your research will be presented.

2.      Phrases should avoid in Introduction

Referees have to read a lot of papers. While this can be a very rewarding task, it can also be quite tedious when many Abstracts and Introductions seem to begin in the same way. Thus, some writing experts advise avoiding stock phrases (i.e. typical phrases that everyone uses) at the beginning of the introduction.

3.      An Introduction differ from an Abstract

The Introduction is approximately twice as long as the abstract.  They are structured differently. The elements from the abstract in the introduction expand on. The sentences from the abstract are paraphrased in the introduction. The information is covered in the abstract but not in the introduction, and vice versa.

4.      Tenses used in theses

a.    The present simple is generally used to begin the Introduction in order to describe the general background context, i.e. what is known already.

b.    The present perfect is then used to show how the problem has been approached from the past until the present day.

c.    The past simple - the idea is to use the present simple for what is already accepted in the literature, and the past simple for your new contribution.

d.   The future simple to talk about his claim / conclusion. This usage of the future tends to be confined to where authors set out to prove a hypothesis, rather than to give hard results.

5.      Outline of the structure

The outline of the structure can be done with:

a.    Deleting unnecessary sentences. Some journals and reviewers advise that there is no need to have an initial sentence saying the paper is structured as follows. Simply beginning a new paragraph at the end of the introduction is enough to alert the reader that you are now going to talk about the structure.

b.    Using active verbs (surveys) rather than only passive (a survey ... is provided). For the sake of variety, the RV also includes some passive forms. But you could, if you wish, use active forms throughout and thus would further reduce the length of the paragraph.

c.    Removing other redundancy. For example, the phrase the experience in the application of the tool to industrial case studies is reported and discussed is unnecessarily verbose.

6.      Asses the quality of the introduction

To make a self-assessment of your Introduction, you can ask yourself the following questions.

a.    Is my research question clear?

b.    Does my Introduction act as a clear road map for understanding my paper?

c.    Is it sufficiently different from the Abstract, without any cut and pastes? (some overlap is fine)

d.   Have I mentioned only what my readers specifically need to know and what I will subsequently refer to in the Discussion?

e.    Have I been as concise as possible?

f.     Have I used tenses correctly? present simple (general background context, description of what will be done in the paper), present perfect (past to present solutions), past simple (my contribution, though this may  also be expressed using the present simple or future simple)

CONCLUSSION

Thesis Introduction becomes one of the important things when writing thesis. In this chapter, the readers are shown what are going to present, what the different from the previous study. Hence, introduction chapter must be conducted carefully. The role of writing introduction or the keys’ skill gives information and guiding for us who conduct thesis.

The roles in writing introduction consist of creating research space, the average pages should be fulfilling, the typical structure of it. In addition, keys skill has several points; the structure of introduction which consist of 10 parts, tenses that be used, phrases which is avoided, the different style between introduction and abstract, making outline of the structure and assess of the introduction quality. Hopefully, within those guiding, researcher can conduct their research easily.

REFFERENCES

Paltridge, Brian.,Starfield, Sue. (2007). Thesis and Dissertation Writing in a Second Language: a handbook for supervisors. New York : Routledge.

Wallwork, Adrian. (2011). English for Writing Research Papers. London : Springer.