4. Writing introduction.pptx

Writing an introduction
LESSON 4.

The introduction to a research paper is where you set up
your topic and approach for the reader. It has several key
goals:
 Present your topic and get the reader interested
 Provide background or summarize existing research
 Position your own approach
 Detail your specific research problem
 Give an overview of the paper’s structure

The introduction looks slightly different depending on
whether your paper presents the results of original
empirical research or constructs an argument by engaging
with a variety of sources.
The five steps in this lesson will help you put together an
effective introduction for either type of research paper.

Step 1: Introduce your topic
The first job of the introduction is to tell the reader what
your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally
accomplished with a strong opening hook.
The hook is a striking opening sentence that clearly conveys the
relevance of your topic. Think of an interesting fact or statistic, a
strong statement, a question, or a brief anecdote that will get the
reader wondering about your topic.
For example, the following could be an effective hook for an
argumentative paper about the environmental impact of cattle
farming:

A more empirical paper investigating the relationship of Instagram use with body
image issues in adolescent girls might use the following hook:
 Are cows responsible for climate change?
Empirical (основанный на опыте) paper hook
• The rise of social media has been accompanied by
a sharp increase in the prevalence of body image
issues among women and girls.
Argumentative (спорный) paper hook

Step 2: Describe the background
This part of the introduction differs depending on what approach
your paper is taking.
In a more argumentative paper, you’ll explore some general
background here. In a more empirical paper, this is the place to
review previous research and establish how yours fits in.
Argumentative paper: Background information
After you’ve caught your reader’s attention, specify a bit more,
providing context and narrowing down your topic.

Argumentative paper background
(example)
A recent study (RIVM, 2019) shows that cattle farmers account for two thirds of
agricultural nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands. These emissions result from
nitrogen in manure, which can degrade into ammonia and enter the atmosphere.
The study’s calculations show that agriculture is the main source of nitrogen
pollution, accounting for 46% of the country’s total emissions. By comparison, road
traffic and households are responsible for 6.1% each, the industrial sector for 1%.
Provide only the most relevant background information. The introduction
isn’t the place to get too in-depth; if more background is essential to your
paper, it can appear in the body.

Empirical paper: Describing previous research
For a paper describing original research, you’ll instead provide an overview of
the most relevant research that has already been conducted. This is a sort of
miniature literature review—a sketch of the current state of research into your
topic, boiled down to a few sentences.
This should be informed by genuine engagement with the literature. Your
search can be less extensive than in a full literature review, but a clear sense of
the relevant research is crucial to inform your own work.
Begin by establishing the kinds of research that have been done, and end
with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to respond to.

Empirical paper background (example)
Various empirical studies have been conducted into Facebook usage among
adolescent girls (Tiggermann & Slater, 2013; Meier & Gray, 2014). These studies
have consistently found that the visual and interactive aspects of the platform
have the greatest influence on body image issues. Despite this, highly visual
social media (HVSM) such as Instagram have yet to be robustly researched.

Step 3: Establish your research problem
The next step is to clarify how your own research fits in and what
problem it addresses.
Argumentative paper: Emphasize importance
In an argumentative research paper, you can simply state the
problem you intend to discuss, and what is original or important
about your argument.

Argumentative paper research problem
(example)
While efforts are being made to mitigate these emissions,
policymakers are reluctant to reckon with the scale of the problem.
The approach presented here is a radical one, but commensurate with
the issue.

Empirical paper: Relate to the literature
In an empirical research paper, try to lead into the problem on the basis of
your discussion of the literature. Think in terms of these questions:
 What research gap is your work intended to fill?
 What limitations in previous work does it address?
 What contribution to knowledge does it make?

You can make the connection between your problem
and the existing research using phrases like the
following.
Phrase Connection
Although x has been studied in detail,
insufficient attention has been paid to y.
You will address a previously overlooked
aspect of your topic.
The implications of x study deserve to be
explored further.
You will build on something suggested
by a previous study, exploring it in
greater depth.
It is generally assumed that x. However,
this paper suggests that y …
You will depart from the consensus on
your topic, establishing a new position.

Step 4: Specify your objective(s)
Now you’ll get into the specifics of what you intend to find out or
express in your research paper.
The way you frame this varies. An argumentative paper presents a
thesis statement, while an empirical paper generally poses a research
question (sometimes with a hypothesis as to the answer).
Argumentative paper: Thesis statement
The thesis statement expresses the position that the rest of the paper will present
evidence and arguments for. It can be presented in one or two sentences, and
should state your position clearly and directly, without providing specific arguments
for it at this point.

Thesis statement
This paper argues that the Dutch government must stimulate and
subsidize livestock farmers, especially cattle farmers, to transition to
sustainable vegetable farming.

Empirical paper: Research question and hypothesis
The research question is the question you want to answer in an empirical research
paper.
Present your research question clearly and directly, with a minimum of discussion at this
point. The rest of the paper will be taken up with discussing and investigating this question;
here you just need to express it.
A research question can be framed either directly or indirectly.
This study set out to answer the following question: What effects does daily use of
Instagram have on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls?
We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image
issues among adolescent girls.
If your research involved testing hypotheses, these should be stated along with your
research question. They are usually presented in the past tense, since the hypothesis will
already have been tested by the time you are writing up your paper.
For example, the following hypothesis might respond to the research question above:

Hypothesis
It was hypothesized that daily Instagram use would be associated
with an increase in body image concerns and a decrease in self-
esteem ratings.

Step 5: Map out your paper
The final part of the introduction is often dedicated to a brief overview of the
rest of the paper.
In a paper structured using the standard scientific “introduction, methods,
results, discussion” format, this isn’t always necessary. But if your paper is structured
in a less predictable way, it’s important to describe the shape of it for the reader.
If included, the overview should be concise, direct, and written in the present
tense.
х This paper will first discuss several examples of survey-based research into
adolescent social media use, then will go on to …
 This paper first discusses several examples of survey-based research into
adolescent social media use, then goes on to …

Research paper introduction examples
(Argumentative paper introduction)
Are cows responsible for climate change? A recent study (RIVM, 2019) shows that
cattle farmers account for two thirds of agricultural nitrogen emissions in the
Netherlands. These emissions result from nitrogen in manure, which can degrade
into ammonia and enter the atmosphere. The study’s calculations show that
agriculture is the main source of nitrogen pollution, accounting for 46% of the
country’s total emissions. By comparison, road traffic and households are
responsible for 6.1% each, the industrial sector for 1%. While efforts are being
made to mitigate these emissions, policymakers are reluctant to reckon with the
scale of the problem. The approach presented here is a radical one, but
commensurate with the issue. This paper argues that the Dutch government
must stimulate and subsidize livestock farmers, especially cattle farmers, to
transition to sustainable vegetable farming. It first establishes the inadequacy of
current mitigation measures, then discusses the various advantages of the results
proposed, and finally addresses potential objections to the plan on economic
grounds.

Research paper introduction examples
(Empirical paper introduction)
The rise of social media has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the
prevalence of body image issues among women and girls. This correlation has
received significant academic attention: Various empirical studies have been
conducted into Facebook usage among adolescent girls (Tiggermann & Slater,
2013; Meier & Gray, 2014). These studies have consistently found that the visual
and interactive aspects of the platform have the greatest influence on body
image issues. Despite this, highly visual social media (HVSM) such as Instagram
have yet to be robustly researched. This paper sets out to address this research
gap. We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body
image issues among adolescent girls. It was hypothesized that daily Instagram
use would be associated with an increase in body image concerns and a decrease
in self-esteem ratings.

What is the purpose of introduction in
research paper?
The purpose of the introduction is to give a brief outline of the field of
research. In this part one can bring clearly the importance of the field and the
current status of it. It should contain an overview of the problem, its
importance, statements about the hypothesis or specific questions to be
explored. The introductory chapter should be prepared in such a way that it
should interest the reader in the subject matter of research. It should not be
aimless, confused and lacking in precision. Introductory part may contain one or
two chapters.

To be precise, the introductory part should cover the following
aspects:
 Features of the topic
 Present status of the field
 Some unsolved problems
 Statement of the problem undertaken
 Importance and justification of the present problem
 Preview of the scheme of the following chapters and their
interrelationship definition of various scientific terms used
 Methodology used

INTRODUCTION (example)
Actuality of the theme. English is used to communicate worldwide as a second or foreign
language, and also as an official language in some countries. In Uzbekistan, English is used to
communicate with people from all over the world. After September 1991, many political,
economical, cultural and social factors as well as the language usage have changedin
independent Uzbekistan.
Nowadays, in the Republic of Uzbekistan great attention is given to the radical
reorganization of the educational system that will give an opportunity to raise it to the level of
modern standards. New approaches in the system of education also influenced on the
learning and teaching of foreign languages. In the Decree of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan Sh. Mirziyoyev PP-2909 ″On measures to further development of the system of
higher education″ adopted on April, 20 in 2017 it is envisaged that university modules,
especially in technical and international areas, are offered in English and other foreign
languages at higher education institutions. It is hard to understand and justify a specialist,who
is unable to choose appropriate words to express his idea, concisely and precisely in any
language. That’s why it is necessary to provide our future specialists with all the necessary
conditions for the access to this amazing world of foreign languages.

Despite the actions done by the government, there are some
problems in teaching and learning foreign language. The problem is
that our students, future professionals, do not have sufficient
opportunities to speak and to write in English. They just know the
grammar of the English which is not quite necessary for the students
in their future life and profession. Likewise, language teaching and
learning English frequently aim to prepare students to perform well
on examinations rather than focusing on authentic use of the
language. As a result, the students still struggle to use English while
teachers are unable to implement the necessary approaches like
Content-based Approach or CLIL Approach (Content and language integrated
learning) into the learning process.

So, the aim of the work is to present the importance of using content and
language integrated approach in the English language learning classes in the
example of students who are learning history.
To achieve the goals put forward before the work we set the following tasks:
1. To explore scholars’ views on the usage of content and language integrated
approach in English classes.
2. To analyse the suggested methods and techniques on using CLIL.
3. To design a lesson plan for the learners of history using the CLIL approach.
4. To suggest some ideas on teaching the CLIL approach.
The object of the work is the ways of using content and language integrated
approach in English classes.

Theoretical significance of the work is in detailed, structural studying about
using content and language integrated approach in English classes., its role in
developing learner motivation and the methodological points of teaching
content and language integrated approach in English classes and the material
can be used by any teacher, it is also useful for trainers on conducting teacher
training courses and in compiling methodological handbooks for teachers.
Practical value of the qualification thesis. The collected material of the work is
hard to be overvalued. This work will be a good manual for those who want to
master modern English language and also the materials of the work will be
valuable in the classes of “The methodology of teaching foreign languages” and
“The courses on teaching ESP learners”.

Content of the work. The presented work consists of the introduction, two main parts,
conclusion and bibliography. Within the introduction part we gave the brief description of our
work and general notion of the using content and language integrated approach in English
classes. The main part of our work includes several items. There we discussed scholars points on
using content and language integrated approach in English classes and suggested some
techniques for conducting lessons devoted to the using content and language integrated
approach in English classes. In conclusion to our work we suggested the ideas of using content
and language integrated approach in language learning situation. In the very end of the work we
gave the bibliography or the list of authors, the works of whom we used when compiling the
presented work. (Taken from a bachelor graduation paper fulfilled at NSPI)

4. Writing introduction.pptx

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