A Text-Based Analysis of the Introduction of a Research Paper

 

A Text-Based Analysis of the Introduction of a Research Paper

In the paper “A small-scale study of primary school English language teachers’ classroom activities and problems”, Arikan (2011) does not fully comply with the prescriptions outlined by Swales (2012) in his Create a Research Space (CARS) model for writing introductions. The move “establishing a niche” (Swales, 2012, p. 331) is not applied since the author of this paper does not demonstrate the existence of a gap in scientific knowledge. Another irregularity present in this introduction is the lack of further examples and explanations which should have been used to clarify and persuade the readers of the relevance of the research topic.

As for the academic writing conventions prescribed by the American Psychological Association (APA) (2010), the writer of this paper makes little use of in-text citations, the only ones present are narrative ones such as “Scott and Ytreberg (2009)” (Arikan, et al, 2011, para. 3). Furthermore, there is an instance in which a quotation is wrongly used, in other words, a parenthetical citation should have been applied instead, namely “there must be variety of every component of classroom planning, teaching and assessment (pp. 5-7)” (Arikan, 2011, para 3).

Nevertheless, some good applications of the theory presented by Swales (2012) and APA (2010) are present. For example, the author of this paper partly respects Swales’ (2012) specifications for writing introductions when they introduce the first move , namely “establishing a research territory”  (Swales, 2012, p. 331), the topic is presented to prospective readers and some previous research studies related to the research problem are reviewed. Moreover, the move “occupying the niche” (Swales, 2012, p. 331) is also applied when the authors include their research questions and objectives. Finally, language is well-used and there are no mistakes as regards linguistic accuracy.

References

American Psychological Association (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological             association (7th ed.). American Psychological Association.

Arikan, A. (2011, April 27-29). A small-scale study of primary school English language teachers' classroom activities and problems. [Paper presentation]. 2nd International Conference on New Trends in Education and their Implications. Antalya, Turkey.

Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. B. (2012). Academic writing for graduate students. Essential tasks and skills  (3rd ed). Michigan ELT.