Highlightsinconclusionwriting

1IntroductionTheimportanceofconclusionsectionofresearchpaperisoftenundervaluedbyresearchpaperwriters.Infactconclusionsectionjustweighsasmuchastheintroductionsectionintheeyesofofthepeoplewhowouldliketoreadyourresearchpaper.Researchpaperreadersaremorelikelytochoosemoreimportantparts,suchasabstract,introductionandconclusiontoreadtogettheimportantinformationofaresearchpaper.LiketheAbstract,theConclusionalsoreferstotheresearch.Theformerlooksforward(prospective),whereasthelatterlooksbackward(retrospective).TheobviousfunctionofaConclusionistobringthepapertoanend.ResearchpapersmaydifferinformatforthemiddlesectionsbutalmostallhaveaConclusion.2ThecontentofConclusion•TheConclusioncontainsinsummaryformwhathasalreadybeenpresentedinthepaper.•Referenceismadetodifferentsectionsofthepaperandtherelationshipbetweenonepartandanother.•Someconclusionsmaymentionthedeficienciesofthepresentresearchbutmostlookintothefutureanddiscussbrieflythesignificanceoftheirresearchforothersinthefield.•ThefollowingConclusion(Swan,1999:270)isagoodexample.Ex1.ItwouldbequitewrongformetoimplyherethatasurefiresolutionhasbeenfoundtothewidespreadandintractableproblemofprovidingacrashcourseinreportwritingforpostgraduatestudentspossessedofaverywiderangeofEnglishskillsatintake.Whatdoesseemclear,however,isthatfocusingontextatthephraselevel,andinparticularthephrasestructure‘XofY’,providesausefulstartingpoint,acceptableandhelpfultostudentsatallbuttheverylowestlevels.ItwillbeofinteresttoestablishinfuturewhethercommandanduseofthisstructurecorrelateswithrelativelyhighermarksbothinGeologyexaminationanswersandintheend-of-programresearchreport.•Theaboveconclusionisashortparagraphreferringtosomedeficiencyinaproposalmadeinthepaperforteachingreportwritingtopostgraduatestudentsfollowedbyanassertionthatthesuggestedmethodology‘providesausefulstartingpoint’.Itthenlooksintothefutureforpossiblefurtherresearchinthesamearea.ThestructureofConclusion•UnliketheAbstract,theelementsofstructureintheConclusionmayvarywidelyespeciallyiftheconclusionsandimplicationsoftheresearchareputinthesamesection.•Onthewhole,wecansaythattherearethreeelementsofstructure,i.e.(1)referringbacktothepaper’ssectionsinasummarystatement,(2)discussingsomeoftheimplicationsoftheresearchinthewidercontextofinvestigation,and(3)lookingintothefutureforpossibledevelopments.•Thefollowing(Glew,2001:46)isanotherexampleinwhichtheauthorfirstrefersbacktothepaperinasummarystatement.ThenanevaluativestatementismadeaboutELICOSproviders,i.e.“makeavaluablecontribution”.Finallytheconclusionlooksintothefutureforfurtherresearchinthearea.•2.ThispaperpresentsacallforschoolsintheindependenteducationsectortoassesstheprovisionofELICOSforinternationalFLOTEstudentswhointendtopursuesecondaryschoolandfurthereducationstudyinAustralia.Giventheresourcesandexperienceofindependentschoolsineducation,IbelievethatasELICOSproviderstheyhaveapotentialtomakeavaluablecontributiontoEnglishlanguageeducationforinternationalstudents.ItismyhopethatfurtherinvestigationsofELICOSforsecondaryschoolandfurthereducationstudieswillcontributetotheneededdisseminationofresearchondeliveringEnglishlanguagecoursesinAustralianschoolcourses.ThelanguageofConclusion•Basedonthethreestagesmentionedabove,thelanguageshouldsummarize,evaluate,andprojectresearchpossibilitiesinthefuture.•ThefollowingverbphrasescomefromalongerConclusionsection(Fan,1999).Example:Summarize:Thisstudyhastakenfivesteps…,Wehavedemonstratedthat…,Themethodologydescribedis…Evaluate:…writtenlearnerdataisabletoreveal…,…providearichresourceforlearning…,…itispossibletoidentify…,…errorscanalsobehandled…Projectintofuture:…thecompilationofacorpus…canbeexploitedby…,gaininsightinto…,…betterunderstandingofEnglishlanguageuse.Highlightsinconclusionwriting•1,incontent(1)sumaryofkeyideasorfindings(2)implication:theoreticalor/andpracticalvalueorsignificance(3)futureoutlook:apossibledevelopmentsinthefield,bsuggestionsforothers’research,suchasmethods,relevantissuestoberesearched.(4)limitationofthestudyifnecessary2,instyle(1)sumarizing:emphaticandconcise(2)relating/referringbacktothebeginning(3)enlighteningtothereaders•ThelanguageoftheConclusionmatchestheabovefunctionswithverbformsthataremainlyinthepresenttense.•Insomecases,however,pasttenseisalsoused.•Conclusionshouldbetterreferbackandrelatebacktothebeginninginsomewaysothatthebeginningandtheendkeepconsistentandthewholepaperlooksmoreunifiedandintegrated.•TheConclusionsectionofaresearchpaperplaysanimportantroleinbringingtheinvestigationtoanend.•Conclusionsdifferintheirlengthbuttheyshouldallsummarizetheresearchandhighlightthesignificanceofthefindings.•Mostconclusionshaveathree-partstructurethatincludesasummaryoftheresearch(emphasisonthesthengthfulpointsorfindings),someevaluativestatementsaboutthesignificanceoftheinvestigation(deficiencybycomparingwithotherrelevantresearchandtheoreticalandpracticalvalues),andaprojectionoffurtherresearchpossibilitiesinthefuture(valuablesuggestionstootherpeopleforadvancingresearchesorpredictionoffuturepossibleprogressofdevelopmentintherevelantr