英语学位论文写作PPT教学课件-CHAPTER6

6.2 The thesis statement
How to write a dissertation in English
6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6
the form of a problem that you attempt to solve in your research, in which case the thesis statement is a statement of solution to the problem.
How to Write a Dissertation In English
黄国文 M. Ghadessy 高等教育出版社
6.1 Introduction 6.2 The thesis statement 6.3 The research question 6.4 The research method 6.5 Summary 6.6 Exercises
6.2 The thesis statement
How to write a dissertation in English
6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6
statement may change; it can be modified in one way or another because you may find, at a later stage, that your research topic needs to be narrowed down or broadened.
Usually the research topic can be stated as a question or as a hypothesis, and the choice between the two depends on the nature of the subject area. Stating the research topic as a question often helps to stimulate exploratory research, while formulating a topic as a hypothesis suggests that the research focus is on a tentative explanation or argument that your research attempts to test. With our proposed research topic of the verb forms in the as if clause, we can have either a question or a hypothesis. Let us look at the question first:
A thesis statement, also called the statement of the problem, or the thesis sentence, usually states or suggests the research subject or the main topic. Making the thesis statement will help you to focus on the research topic and to avoid reading unrelated materials and writings that are of little or no relevance to your research topic. Formulating and writing your thesis statement will force you to clarify your thinking and understanding of your research focus. In many cases, a thesis statement is also stated in
6.2 The thesis statement
How to write a dissertation in English
6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6
In Chapter 5, we talked about the reading of the relevant literature and the methods of getting information related to your research. We also advised you about how to read the literature and how to discover questions and problems. The preliminary reading of the information, the examination of the sources where you have obtained useful information, your attempts to narrow down your research topic, and your discussion with your tutor will now enable you to formulate a thesis statement.
Chapter 6
Prewriting (3):Thesis Formulation and Research Questions
6.1 Introduction
How to write a dissertatio2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6
This chapter will deal with the idea of thesis formulation and its relationship with the research question(s) underlying the research. The choice of research method will also be discussed. Note that the meaning of the word thesis in thesis formulation or thesis statement is different from the meaning of the word when it is used as a synonym of dissertation or paper (see Section 1.2 in Chapter 1). In the former case, as is defined by the Cobuild English-Chinese Dictionary (p. 2034), “a thesis is an idea or theory that is expressed as a statement and is discussed in a logical way”. By contrast, in the latter case, a thesis is “a long piece of writing, based on your own ideas and research that you do as part of a university degree”. So the Chinese translation of thesis in thesis formulation or thesis statement is “论点”, while the Chinese translation in the latter case is “论文”. Thesis formulation and thesis statement are “论点形成” and “论点陈述” in Chinese respectively.
6.2 The thesis statement
How to write a dissertation in English
6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6
present perfect tense past perfect tense hypothetical meaning factual meaning We may have the following sentence as the thesis statement for this study: Different verb forms in the as if clause are used to express different meanings. Here different verb forms in the “as if clause” implies that we are dealing with different tenses in this particular type of adverbial clause, and to express different meanings echoes with different verb forms in the “as if clause”. Furthermore, are used implies that we are interested in the relationship between form and use. This thesis statement is in fact the answer to the question with which our research is concerned. Note that as your research outline evolves and your research progresses, your thesis
Recall that in Chapter 5 we were talking about dealing with the verb forms in the as if clause. Here is a suitable subject and some possible subtopics:
6.3 The research question
How to write a dissertation in English
6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6
In trying to formulate your thesis statement, researchers usually have one or more research questions in mind. The answer(s) to the question(s) are related to the aim and objectives as well as the overall research topic. By asking a research question, the researcher knows that he needs to find an answer to the question, or find a solution to the problem.
Suitable subject: Tenses in the as if clause Possible subtopics: indicative mood
subjunctive mood simple present tense simple past tense simple future tense present progressive tense past progressive tense