ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the role of the Introduction in relation to the thesis as a whole, the typical structure of the Introduction, and some of the linguistic characteristics of thesis Introductions. D. Bunton and B. Paltridge found that despite variation in the overall structuring of master’s and doctoral theses and dissertations with the emergence of new ‘hybrid’ types, all the theses they examined had an introductory chapter. As J. M. Swales and C. Feak have argued in terms of the research article, the thesis Introduction is of strategic importance: its key role is to create a research space for the writer. As Swales and Feak point out, language which identifies weaknesses in the writing of others needs to be used with care. This is particularly the case for thesis and dissertation writers, who are students seeking to be accepted into a community of scholars.
