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What is Introduction section?

The introduction section is perhaps the most important part of your paper and the most difficult to write. It is where you sketch out the background of your study, stating why you have examined your research question and how it is related to earlier conducted researches. You can think of an introduction as an inverted pyramid, where the broadest part is at the top representing the most general information and as you come down you focus down to the specific problem you have studied.

Moves in research paper introductions: these moves are the actual steps in writing your introduction section. Following them will help you write your introduction section easily. You just need a little practice. Plus there is an example at the end of this article which practically describes the three moves.

Establishing a research Territory:
Step 1: by showing that your general research idea is important, central, interesting, problematic or relevant in some way. (Optional)

Step 2: by introducing and reviewing items of previous research in the field of your study.

This is where you provide the background and create a context. Here you should give to your reader an idea of the state-of-the art of the field of study the report is about. Keep it short and informative. One paragraph is enough. Usually the present perfect tense is used with expressions such as “in recent years”.



Establishing a niche:
Step 1: by indicating a gap in the previous research OR by extending previous knowledge in some way.

This the key move in introductions. This is the move which connects move 1 to move 3, i.e. it connects what has been done in the past to what your study is about and establishes a motivation for study or as Swales and Feak put it “it is a “mini-critique” (Swales and Feak, 2012). This move is usually short; sometimes one or two sentences and is normally triggered by “little is, however, known…”

Occupying the niche:
Step 1: by outlining purposes or stating the nature of the present research

ü In some filed you can do so by:

Listing research questions or hypotheses
Announcing principal findings
Stating the value of the present research
Indicating the structure of your research paper
What you do in this step is that you offer a solution to fill the gap you created in move 2. Here you signal to your present research using phrases like “in this paper, here, the present study”. Most of the time two sentences are enough for this move.



Some Tips:

Write as the last part:
It is always a good idea to write the introduction section after you have finished writing up your paper. Doing so gives you a better perspective on the background of your topic and the final structure of your paper.

Keep it short:
A long introduction will soon put reviewers and readers off. Stick closely to your outline for the paper.

Define the Problem:
The entire introduction section should logically end at the research question and thesis statement or hypothesis. The reader or reviewer should know exactly where you are trying to go with the paper by end of this section.

Keep the Parts Separated:
Try to keep it clean and separate the three moves so that the reader or reviewer can read it easily



One example from Applied Linguistics:



In recent decades the unique characteristics of the listening skill and the significant role it plays in language learning and communication has been recognized and it has gained considerable importance in foreign language learning classrooms (Anderson and Lynch, 1988; Rost, 1990; Underwood, 1989; Ur, 1984) (Establishing a research Territory).

Since it is believed that unlike other skills – namely reading, writing and speaking- listening comprehension is a natural ability or a passive skill, some researchers pay less attention to it and some claim that learners could develop listening skills without assistance (Mendelsohn, 1984; Oxford, 1993) (Establishing a Niche). This paper, however, proposes a study that will try to demonstrate how activating background knowledge affects listening comprehension and whether teacher assistance through topic familiarity can affect the comprehension of learners (Occupying the niche).*



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References

In writing this article resources from the following were used:

Swales, J. M., Feak, C. B. (2012). Academic writing for graduate students: essential tasks and skills. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
* Medi A. (2014), “Effect of Activating Background Knowledge on Non-Academic EFL Students’ Listening Comprehension” (Unpublished Work)