Writing Effective Introductions in EAP

1. Questions about the Chem. Ed. Res. article – True or false?
1. PBL is, in fact, an old technique, first used in Universities in 1966.
2. The staff at Leicester University Chemistry Department had no
previous experience of teaching PBL.
3. The ‘T’ in S.E.T. Stands for ‘Things’ .
4. Most of the facilitators were staff members (e.g. Lecturers or
Professors).
5. A wiki was created which could be accessed on the VLE by
both facilitators and students.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE

2. EFFECTIVE INTRODUCTIONS
• In today’s lesson we will:
• identify different components of an effective
introduction
• consider what makes an effective thesis
statement
• recognise the relationship between a thesis
statement/ introduction

3. Read the introduction in the Wlliams et all (2010) text
and divide it into four parts. What is the purpose of
each part?? Write your answers next to the triangle:
A
B
C
D

4. Background-Focus-Thesis Statement-
Outline
• EXAMPLE:
• Even in the twenty-first century, there remain many
diseases which cannot be totally cured by medical
science. One such disease is blackwater fever (Fred &
Ginger, 1998). This is unfortunate, because it should be
possible to totally eliminate this disease if enough
research resources were allocated to it. This essay will
first describe the recent attempts to find a cure for
blackwater fever and then go on to describe some
possible novel approaches to tackling this crippling
disease.

5. A thesis statement is…
• usually a single sentence that
presents your stance, your
argument to the reader.
• not the same as an outline!
[Adapted from http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/thesis-statements]

6. Not the same as an outline
• This essay will argue that teenage drug use is
detrimental to many areas of their lives, in
particular to their educational success.
–thesis
• This essay will examine the consequences of
teenagers using drugs with regard to their social
relationships, their personal relationships and
finally their educational success.
–outline

7. • Look at the thesis statement from Williams et all
(2010) and check it against the criteria above.
Underline useful language.
• Look at the outline in Williams et all (2010).
Find the parts of the outline in the text.
Highlight the language that is used in the
outline.

8. Write your definition of what an
introduction is and what it should do.
• HM
• Write the introduction to a short essay
evaluating the usefulness of problem based
learning in university education.

9. • There is more practice on thesis statements
at:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/5
88/01/ and
• Manchester Phrasebank has lots of useful
phrases for introductions and conclusions:
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/intr
oductions.htm