English for Thesis 2007

English for Thesis and

Academic Writings

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 English for Thesis 2007

Chapter Page
Language functions and 3
expressions used in introduction
Language expressions used in 5
literature review
Language expressions used when 6
presenting findings
Report writing format: use of 9
tenses in report and thesis writing
Proper sequence and logical 13
connectors in thesis writing
Language expressions used when 15
presenting discussion section

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 English for Thesis 2007

LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS AND EXPRESSIONS USED IN INTRODUCTION

Section Language Function Expression

Background of the Showing knowledge gap in  There have been insufficient
Study research and theories discussions about…
 Previous studies have yet to provide
evidence…
 To date, no research has been done
on…
 There is a growing need to determine
Showing historical whether…
development
 The 90’s have been viewed as the
most significant era for the
development of…
 The past five years have seen
increasing technological advances
in….
 During the 1990s, it was shown
that….

Statement of Problem Stating key information or  This rapid development may have a
problems serious impact on…
 The biggest issue that we are dealing
now is…
 Many complaints have been made
about the issue on…
 The impact of this problem may lead
to...

Purpose and Objective Stating the main purpose /  This study attempts to address the
of the Study objective of the research following matters…
 The aim of the study is to determine…
 This study will investigate…
 This study intends to ascertain the
methods used…
 This study discusses the following
matters…
 This study will examine the research
conducted on...

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 English for Thesis 2007

Stating main reason for  The findings obtained from this study
Significance of the conducting the study will help to uncover….
Study  This research needs to be conducted
because…
 The results obtained from this research
will help to determine…
 The data gathered from this study will
be useful to...

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 English for Thesis 2007

LANGUAGE EXPRESSIONS USED IN LITERATURE REVIEW

Language Function Expression

Reference to previous researches  From the research conducted by Allen (1993), it shows that…
or scholarly articles  Recent evidence suggests that…. (Hardy, 2000; Woods 2003)
 Several attempts have been made to…. (Carrington, 1998)
 Previous studies have reported…. (Gunner, 1999)

Reference to a single  Fray (1995) analyzed the data obtained from 42 states and
investigation in the research concluded that
 Boyle et al. (2003) reviewed the literature and found little
evidence for the claims made by other researchers.
 The pilot study was undertaken by the researcher to
investigate…
 The study of human behaviour was first carried out by
Theodore (1985)…

Reference to other writers’  Holmes (2002) lists two reasons why the English language has
opinions in their text become so dominant. These are…
 Smith (2000) draws a conclusion that….
 Maine (1989) suggests that the best way to trigger motivation
among students is to….

Reference to other writers’ ideas  Smith (2003) maintains that the use of concrete is more cost
effective….
 Abagnale (1997) claims that…
 Fitzgerald (1999) concurs that the best method of…

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 English for Thesis 2007

LANGUAGE EXPRESSIONS USED WHEN PRESENTING FINDINGS

Language Function Expression

Introduction  A survey was carried out to…
 The purpose of the research is to…
 In order to investigate the problems faced by the workers,
a survey was conducted…
 This section discusses about…
 This section will present the findings on…
 The main objective of this research is to

Leading statements  Figure 6 shows the percentage of…

 As can be seen in Table 8, it shows that…
 The bar chart reveals that…
 The graph in Figure 11 shows that…
 Table 4 indicates that…
 From the data obtained from Graph 3.6, we can see that…
 The results from the analysis are shown/ presented in
Table 5.
 The line chart above (Figure 10) shows some of the…
 As can be seen from...

Describing significant findings  The most significant reason that leads to the increase in….
(Referring to table/chart)  The different reasons that affects the to the increase
amount of variance are…
 The data obtained from this table can be connected with
the data in Figure 3 which shows…
 Strong evidence on…. was (also) found when…
 It is obvious from the figure that only a number of
respondents answered the questions correctly…
 The data obtained from Figure 9 shows significant
findings…
 The most important findings that we can see from Figure 7
is that…
 On average, the respondents seemed to agree that…
 Interestingly, the respondents who answered…
 Figure 7 shows a clear upward movement in…
 As shown in Table 9, there is an obvious similarity
between the two respondents…
 The most important findings to appear from the data
collected is…
 The relationship between the two characters is significant
because…

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 English for Thesis 2007

 There was a positive connection between the two…

 Further analysis of the data showed/revealed that…

Presenting Findings from  Figure 1/Table 1 shows the percentage of…

Questionnaire and Interviews  From the pie chart, the main reason for…
 From the figure, we can see that the factors determining…
 Out of the 70 questionnaires distributed, 50 respondents
completed and returned the questionnaire.
 From Figure 3, the most significant factor that seems to
have dominated the causes of…is…
 The majority of the respondents implied that…
 90percent of the respondents agreed that…
 Only two respondents indicated that…
 In response to Question 10, a majority of the respondents
revealed that…
 Figure 4.7 illustrates the findings for…
 Based on Figure 4.10, we can see that…

Transition Statements  We will move on to look at another findings obtained

from…
 Focusing now to the next point on the questionnaire
 Based on the two findings obtained from the
questionnaire, we can see that…
 Evaluating the two findings, it can be understood that…
 A comparison of the two results reveals that…

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 English for Thesis 2007

Other Appropriate Words 1. Appropriate adjectives:

Rapid, dramatic, moderate, gradual increase/decrease,

rise, fall, sharp, decline, fair, steady

2. Appropriate signal words:

Additional idea:
In addition, besides, apart from that, furthermore,
moreover, also, likewise, additionally, too.

Opposite idea:
On the other hand, however, instead, nonetheless, but, yet,
in contrast, conversely, on the contrary.

Emphasis:
In fact, indeed, definitely, that is, specifically, in
particular, namely.

Giving examples:
For example, for instance, such as, an example of, as

Conclude:
As a conclusion, in brief, in short, in conclusion, in a
nutshell, to sum up.

Show results:
As a result, consequently, thus, accordingly, therefore,
hence, so, for this reason.

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 English for Thesis 2007

REPORT WRITING FORMAT: USE OF TENSES IN REPORT AND THESIS WRITING

Having trouble determining whether you should use past tense to describe your report? Do you
often find yourself get stuck with questions like, "How do I describe my findings and analysis?",
"When do I use present tense and when do I use past tense or any other tenses?", "Which word is
appropriate to be used that will best illustrate my research?". Do not worry. Many people are
asking the same questions and at the same time finding it difficult to differentiate the tenses that
they need to use in their attempt to describe their research.

Some people chose the wrong tenses that at times the readers can get confused as to what facts
are already known and what was newly discovered in the studies. In order for you to have a
clearer understanding on how you can go about presenting your findings, here are some useful
notes that can help you in determining which tenses that you should use when writing your report
or your research. The notes given below are more specific in nature in the sense that the notes
illustrate specific instances where you should use specific tenses when describing specific things.

Focus on Information : Present Tense

Example Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages.

Buildings as a whole and all their components and contents are badly shaken during severe
earthquakes by the ground motion.

Focus on Author/Findings From Specific Studies: Past Tense

Example Allen and Smith (1999) described graphically the differences between the various vibration
scales.

Allington (1987) reported that teachers allocated equal time to all groups.

Whitford (1976) listed the foods, but gave no quantitative data.

Focus on Research Area : Present Perfect

Example Although a lot of researchers have been devoted to investigating the nature of written
communication and how it is being used by business organizations, there is still little known
about how they go about using it.

Several studies have examined the relationship between language and culture.

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 English for Thesis 2007

Statement of Purpose: Focus On Report: Present Tense

Example The purpose of this thesis is to determine....

The aim of this report is to investigate...

Statement of Purpose : Focus on Research: Past Tense

Example The purpose of this study was to determine...

The aim of the research was to highlight...

Describing Procedure Used in Research: Past Tense

The study involved eighteen members of the Sales and Marketing department of the
Example organization.

Two members of the organization were interviewed to gain better insights on the use of
Business Communication principles by the organization.

Questionnaires were sent to 50 private sectors around the Klang Valley area.

The data obtained were subjected to an analysis of variance.

The research was conducted on a marine laboratory research vessel.

Results: Locating the Figure/Table: Present Tense

Results of the t-tests are presented in Table 4.6.
Example
Figure 4.7 summarizes the results on the survey with social workers.

Findings for Question 5 that tests the respondents on the use of complex words are shown in
Figure 4.8.

Presenting the Findings: Past Tense

The results obtained from dry sieving showed that laterite contained 59% of gravel, 40% of
Example sand and 1% of silt and clay.

The peak density of the 80/100 PEN with SEBS specimen was found to be 2.320 g/cm3.

The coefficient of correlation was found to be significant at 0.001 level.

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 English for Thesis 2007

Commenting on Results: Present Tense and Modal Auxiliaries

Example This is consistent with earlier findings suggesting that literacy is related to family
background and social surroundings.

The documents obtained from the organization for purposes of this paper are mainly
documents that deal with loan and sales agreement, request and reply to request letters,
company's updates, payment notification, and notices on progress payment and stamping
notice.

Further advances in theory can be made as research is successful at decomposing the

remaining variance.

These results may be explained by considering the voltage distribution on 230 kV insulators
during freezing conditions.

Discussion: Referring to the Purpose/Hypothesis: Past Tense

Example This study attempted to seek the level of awareness on Business Communication principles
and the application of the principles by the organization when writing business documents.

This research attempted to assess two construction management frameworks used in the
Malaysian construction industry.

It was originally assumed that every child has an innate ability to learn a language.

Explaining the Findings: Past, Present and Modal Auxiliaries

Example This result is similar to that observed by Ujang and Anderson (1996), Ozaki et al. (2002),
and Koyuncu et al. (2001).

Different operating condition can be tested to determine the effect of the condition on the
rejection of dissociated and undissociated organic substance.

It is possible that microbial activity caused some immobilization of labial soil phosphorous
(restricted to a particular study)

It is possible that microbial activity causes some immobilization of labial soil phosphorous
(general conditions)

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 English for Thesis 2007

Restating hypothesis, explaining findings and suggesting implications: Past, Modal, Present

Example Further research can also be carried out upon cantilever structures or continuous structures.

It can be concluded that different section type is less likely to control design output because
truss members are purely compressed.

These findings provide evidence that the lack of awareness on business communication
principles causes the subjects to defy the rules when writing business communication.

This study is useful for determining the replacement of the dilemma zone protectors where
the installation of the detectors could reduce the numbers of red light running vehicles.

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 English for Thesis 2007

PROPER SEQUENCE AND LOGICAL CONNECTORS IN THESIS WRITING

Cause and Effect Comparison and Contrast

Due to As a result Similarly However

As a consequence
Hence Besides On the other hand
To affect

As a result of Consequently Likewise On the contrary

Therefore
While While
Because of / Because Thus
It follows that
Correspondingly Although
The cause/ effect of Will result in
So
Identical Even though
The reason for Admittedly
Since In contrast
For In that case
Therefore
As…. As Otherwise
Since Thereby
In doing so Similar to Instead of

Likewise Yet

Both…and Whereas

Not only…but also Nonetheless

Even tough

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 English for Thesis 2007

Addition Reason Sequence Condition

In addition Since First (ly) If

Similarly As Second (ly) Provided that

As well as Due to Next Unless

And Because (of) Later Whether

Besides / Besides that The reason why Earlier So that

Moreover Leads to Later Depending on

Furthermore Cause To begin with For

Even So Then Except

Likewise In other words After that / this (Not) including

Following that / this Apart from

Afterwards With the exception of

Subsequently Without
Example Time Summary Importance

For / One example Before To summarize Most importantly

For instance Since In conclusion Most significantly

Just as Meanwhile To sum up Another significant

In particular At the moment Lastly Primarily

To illustrate Whenever Finally The most vital

Namely As soon as To conclude The primary

Such as Just as In short Above all

As Until In brief The most prominent

When All in all The most salient

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 English for Thesis 2007

LANGUAGE EXPRESSIONS USED WHEN PRESENTING DISCUSSION SECTION

Language Function Expression

Background information  As mentioned in the previous chapter…
 Previous studies show that…
 Other research in…. agreed that…
 This is study aims to uncover…
 Little is known from previous studies on the question of…

Explanation of Results  The result may be explained by looking at…

 There is a possibility that the respondents might be affected
by…
 There may be several possibilities that lead to this result.
 These variations can be explained by…
 A possible explanation for this result might be because of…
 The possible interference of…cannot be denied.
 The result may have been affected by…
 There is a possibility that the result is due to…
 This inconsistency/discrepancy may be affected by…
 There are, however, other possible explanations…

Reference to previous research  The results of this study seemed to reaffirm the findings of a
(Agreeing/Supporting) study conducted by Davies (2000)…
 These findings are consistent with those of Reiner (2003)
who discovered that…
 These findings support previous research into…
 The research gained similar findings with those obtained
from Wales (1995) where…
 The study obtained similar findings as those found in Low
(2002)…
 There are similarities between the behaviour expressed
by…. in this particular study and those described by
Gardner (1998).
 These findings support the notion raised in other research
that…
 This study confirms the claims made in previous researches
where…
 These results are consistent with those of the other studies
which found that…

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 English for Thesis 2007

 Based on the findings, it seemed that the results gathered

from the study seem to be consistent with other research…

Reference to previous research  These findings did not support the findings from previous
(Disagreeing/ Contradicting) research…
 There seemed to be a discrepancy between the findings
found in this research and those obtained from previous
research.
 The findings did not seem to be consistent with other
research…
 In contrast to earlier findings, no evidence of… was
discovered.
 This study has been unable to provide evidence that…
 This study has not been able to demonstrate that…
 On the contrary, the findings form this study do not support
the study conducted by Holmes (2000).
 However, this result has not been previously described in
other research.
 Apart from the results obtained to answer the first and
second research questions, this research has failed to verify
the claims made by George (1990)….

Suggesting hypotheses and  It is possible/probable/likely that…

implications  These findings suggest that…
 The findings show that there is a weak link between…
 Based on the findings, it seems that…
 There is a possibility that…
 In general, it is likely that…
 Therefore, it is likely that there is a connection between…
 Hence, it can be suggested that…
 It is possible to hypothesize that these conditions are likely
to occur in…
 From the results, we can conclude that…
 From the discussion made earlier, it can be concluded that…
 It can therefore be assumed that the…
 The findings of the study suggest that…
 This thus provides a new perspective about...
 As a conclusion, the results indicated that…
 The findings revealed that...

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 English for Thesis 2007

Sentence fragments are not considered sentences because they do not express a complete thought.
For example, when we use a time clause without a main clause, then we have created a sentence
fragment because it is not a complete thought. Thus, we must connect a time clause to a main
clause to complete the meaning of sentence.

The following are some examples of sentence fragments and some suggested clauses to complete
the thought.

Fragment: When I am given a task to complete.

Sentence: When I am given a task to complete, I am usually nervous.

Fragment: As soon as I start working on the task.

Sentence: As soon as I start working on the task, I feel more comfortable.

Fragment: After I am midway through the task.

Sentence: After I am midway through the task, I am usually happy with the result.

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