FUNCTIONS OF CHAPTER IINTRODUCTION

To show the relevance of the research about to be reported in the thesis to previous work in the field

GENERIC STRUCTURE OF INTRODUCTION CHAPTER

Move 1 Establishing a TerritoryMove 2 Establishing a NicheMove 3 Occupying a Niche

(Bunton, 1998)

Move 1 Establishing a TerritoryStep 1: Claiming centralityStep 2: Making topic generalization(s) and giving background informationStep 2A: Defining termsStep 2B: Stating research parameters Step 3: Reviewing items of previous

research

Move 2 Establishing a NicheStep 1A: Indicating a gap, and/orStep 1B: Question-raising and/orStep 1C: Indicating a problemStep 1D: Counter-claimingStep 1E: Extending previous research/ Continuing a tradition

Move 3 Occupying a NicheStep 1: Outlining purposes and/orStep 1A: Taking a theoretical position/Making

claimsStep 1B: Making predictions (S&T)Step 2: Announcing present research in general

termsStep 3: Stating research questions/hypothesesStep 4: Presenting the methodStep 4A: Defining termsStep 4B: Presenting materials/subjects of researchStep 4C: Presenting parameters of researchStep 5: Stating the significance /justification of present research (2A in S&T)Step 6: Indicating thesis structure

CHAPTER IINTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study1.2 Statement of the Problem1.3 Objectives of the Study1.4 Research Questions/Hypotheses1.5 Definition of Terms1.6 Scope of the Study1.7 Limitation of the Study1.8 Significance of the Study1.9 Indicating Thesis Structure

CHAPTER I*INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study1.2 Objectives of the Study/Research

Questions1.3/4 Applied Genre Analysis (Definitions)1.5 Rationale for the Choice of Genre1.6 Practitioners’ Perspectives1.7 Role of Specialist Informants1.8 Significance of the Study1.9 Organisation of Thesis

Strategies for writing the Background of the Study

Background information leading to why you want to conduct the research

Briefly show that you have reviewed some literature

Provide more information to lead to your focus

Provide some current information on the topic to be focussed on

Sample 1

Humanities – Linguistics

Genre Analysis of Brochures from Academic Institutions

1.1 Background of the Study (sample 1)

In our everyday lives, we encounter a repertoire of genres, in both spoken and written communications. These genres can be further categorised into social, academic and professional genres. Work in social genres focuses mainly on spoken discourse such as workplace interactions or classroom interactions between teachers and students. A lot of research has been conducted on academic genres, which mainly focuses on Ph.D. and masters theses (e.g. Bunton, 2002) as well as research articles (e.g. Swales, 1990). However, literature shows that comparatively fewer studies have been conducted on professional genres and these mainly concentrate on a few professions: law, medicine, engineering and business.

1.1 Background of the Study (Con’t) Most of the research on academic and

professional genres concentrates on the written form. This form is presumably written to facilitate the social interactions that are instrumental in the production of knowledge (Berkenkotter and Huckin, 1993). Readers expect coherent and meaningful communication which conforms to the social, academic or professional writing conventions. Failure on the part of the writer to conform to these writing conventions very often leads to failure in understanding the message intended in the text.

1.1 Background of the Study (Con’t) The present study undertakes to investigate

a professional genre using genre analysis because it is believed that this type of linguistic analysis can address the issue of miscommunication as a result of failure to understand the message in texts. Genre analysis is the study of how language is used within a particular setting (Swales, 1990) ... Results from such analyses enable lay people to understand the intended message (the communicative intent) of the writers by understanding the way genres are constructed, i.e. the structural organisation of genres. This information is useful for both readers and writers of texts. Understanding the structural organisation of certain texts ...

Sample 2

Management Science

Disclosure of Segmental information in Developing Countries

1.1 Background of the Study (Sample 2)The International Accounting Standards

Committee (IASC) in its Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of financial Statements concisely defines the objectives of financial statements in terms of its usefulness for economic decision making as follows:

…The IASC framework states that users of financial

information use the information to make economic decisions because financial statements are intended to assist them in evaluating the enterprise’s risks and prospects as well as enable them to assess the stewardship of management, or the accountability of management for resources entrusted to it.

1.1 Background of the Study (Sample 2)Segmental reporting is reporting financial

information by segments by diversified enterprises that are involved in many different activities or operations in different geographical areas. …

Sample 3Engineering

… INDUSTRIALISED BUILDING SYSTEM (IBS) …

1.1 Background of the Study (sample 3)

Industrialised Building System (IBS) is the term coined by the industry and government in Malaysia to represent the adoption of construction industrialisation and the use of prefabrication of components in building construction. IBS is defined as a construction technique in which components are manufactured in a controlled environment (on or off site), transported, positioned and assembled into a structure with minimal additional site work (Hamid et al., 2008; CIDB, 2007; CIDB, 2005 and CIDB, 2003).

1.1 Background of the Study (sample 3) It consists of precast component systems,

fabricated steel structures, innovative mould systems, modular block systems and prefabricated timber structures as construction components (CIDB, 2003). Parts of the building that are repetitive but difficult – and too time consuming and labour intensive to be casted onsite – are designed and detailed as standardised components at the factory and are then brought to the site to be assembled (CIDB, 2003). The onsite casting activities in IBS utilise innovative and clean mould technologies (CIDB, 2007; CIDB, 2005 and CIDB, 2003).

1.1 Background of the Study (sample 3)

The construction industry has started to embrace IBS as a method of attaining better construction quality and productivity, reducing risks related to occupational safety and health, alleviating issues for skilled workers and dependency on manual foreign labour, and achieving the ultimate goal of reducing the overall cost of construction. Apart from this, it offers minimal wastage, fewer site materials, a cleaner and neater environment, controlled quality, and lower total construction costs (Pan et al. 2008, Hamid et al. 2008 and Pan et al. 2007).

Sample 4Science

… TOTAL SYNTHESIS OF LACTACYSTIN …

1.1 Background of the Study (sample 4) Lactacystin (1) is a novel microbial natural

product isolated by Omura et al, from Streptomyces species after screening several thousand microbial cultures. Lactacystin inhibits cell growth or proliferation and also induces neurite outgrowth and differentiation in amouse neuroblastoma cell line, Neuro 2A. In other words, lactacystin is considered to be an important mimic of the nerve growth factor (NGF).

1.1 Background of the Study (sample 4)

Nerve growth factors (NGF) are valuable compounds that are responsible and essential for the survival and function of nerve cells or neurons. Deficiency of these compounds is thought to cause various nerve related diseases which include Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The findings of these investigations suggested that NGF- like compounds might be therapeutically useful for the treatment of these deseases. Nerve growth factors are also important as therapeutic agents and as neuroscience research tools which are in great demand in many biological laboratories today.

1.1 Background of the Study (sample 4)

Although the early work of Omura suggested that lactacystin is a mimic of the nerve growth factor, recent work suggests that this is not exactly the case. Work carried out by the Schreiber group on the effect of this compound on mammalian cells showed that the biological effects of lactacystin were in fact due to its ability to inhibit the 20 S proteasome.

Sample 5

Management Science“Corporate Social Responsibility in Malaysian

Plantation Industry”

1.1 Background of the Study (Sample 5 )The last few years have witnessed a steady

increase in the awareness of the role of corporations amongst the Malaysian society. In fact, corporations which have been credited for their contributions to the country’s economic and technological progress have recently been criticized for creating social problems. Pollution, resource depletion, waste, product quality and safety, the rights and status of workers, and the misuse of power by large corporations are some issues which have become the focus of increasing attention and concern (Gray et al., 1987). Among such corporations are plantation companies which have been dubbed as the major contributors of degrading the environment.

Background of the Study (Con’t)

It has been reported that CSR disclosures from a number of plantation companies are not clear with strong arguments that CSR disclosures have the tendency to be superficial and vague (Randles and Price, 2003). There are claims that the operations of these companies make up the major contributors to pollution in the country including air, water and land pollution as most plantation operations are directly involved with exploiting the environment. This situation consequently leads to the frequent occurrences of haze in the country and to global warming.

 

1.1 Background of the Study (Con’t)It is a requirement for all major corporations to

provide a report on their business activities annually at the end of every financial year in the form of Annual Report or Chairman’s Statement. Also included in these publications are the social activities carried out during the year as evident in the plantation companies playing their role to contribute to the society as part of their social responsibility and to also show the society that they are taking measures to manage their operations in order to avoid from polluting the environment. This way, they are able to avoid getting protests from the society.

CITATIONSA lot of research has been conducted on

academic genres, which mainly focuses on Ph.D. and master theses (e.g. Bunton, 2002) as well as research articles (e.g. Swales, 1990).

Most of the research on academic and professional genres concentrates on the written form. This form is presumably written to facilitate the social interactions that are instrumental in the production of knowledge (Berkenkotter and Huckin, 1993).

CITATIONApart from this, it offers minimal wastage,

fewer site materials, a cleaner and neater environment, controlled quality, and lower total construction costs (Pan et al. 2008, Hamid et al. 2008 and Pan et al. 2007).

It has been reported that CSR disclosures from a number of plantation companies are not clear with strong arguments that CSR disclosures have the tendency to be superficial and vague (Randles and Price, 2003).

1.2 Statement of the Problem (Sample 1)It has been observed that some professionals

particularly those who have recently graduated have not achieved the different levels of competence.  

Due to the present inter-disciplinary demands and practices in both the academic institution and the workplace, it is necessary to acquire the different levels of competence right up to social competence in order for one to participate effectively in the discursive practices of the profession. This refers to acquiring professional expertise.

1.2 Statement of the Problem (Sample 2)… Because of the unique nature of each

diversified enterprise and its business activities, it is very difficult to provide a universal definition of reportable segments. As a result, the existing standards and pronouncements can provide only general guidelines. The decision to identify reportable segments is very much left to the discretion of the directors and the management of the reporting companies.

1.2 Statement of the Problem (Sample 2)… Consequently, other problems emerged

such as restriction on data comparability and reliability, and costs of competitive disadvantage for disclosing more or less information about the company. In addition, there is also a problem in which a number of companies decide not to disclose any segmental information. Despite these problems, various arguments have been made in favour of segmental reporting.

1.2 Statement of the Problem (Sample 3)Contractors are the stakeholders dealing

with project management and solving issues in construction on a day-to-day basis. ...

1.2 Statement of the Problem (Sample 3)There were a number of cases where the use of

IBS had not led to total satisfaction and may have actually been less productive than conventional methods. IBS has been associated in the past with low-quality buildings, leakages, abandoned projects and other such drawbacks delivered by contractors (CIDB, 2006). There were also cases where building projects were awarded and constructed by the contractor using IBS but contributed to the project delays and bad qualities (CIDB, 2010 and Kamar et al. 2009). Contractors also produce poor workmanship, particularly in applying waterproofing materials and column and beam alignment (CIDB, 2010).

1.2 Statement of the Problem (Sample 3)Contractors also suffered from poor

productivity and financial performance (CIDB, 2010). This is due to the fact that contractors have to pay the supplier upfront to purchase components. It is a high capital investment where 30% of the value of the project is to be paid upfront (CIDB, 2010). A delay in the payment means a delay in the components’ delivery, which eventually affects the productivity of the projects.

1.2 Statement of the Problem (Sample 5)As the function of company’s annual report is to

provide information to these users, the management should ensure that there is relevant and transparent disclosure of all the information not only about the financial performance but also declarations of the profits which have been contributed to society. In most cases, plantation companies have disclosed their CSR activities in their annual reports. There have been occasions where the information disclosed cannot satisfy all the users’ needs and expectations. Users also have different perceptions about the CSR disclosure and make comparisons with what really happens in the environment.

1.2 Statement of the Problem (Sample 5)Technically, the management of any company has

to prepare good and efficient annual reports but this will lead to conflict in the company as the management is also responsible in protecting the profits. At the same time, the management also faces difficulties in disclosing the profits to the public because they will make an assumption that the higher profit margins a company makes, the bigger environmental hazards it creates. To counter this, companies are trying to win public support through social activities even though these activities will decrease the percentage of their profits. Thus, it is deemed necessary to examine the relationship between company’s profits and CSR disclosure in this study.

1.3 Objectives of the Study (Sample 1)The general objectives of the present study

are to conduct a detailed linguistic analysis of a promotional genre and to apply the findings of the analysis to develop authentic teaching and learning materials for ESP.

To achieve the above objectives, the present study attempts to answer the following research questions:

1.3 Objectives of the Study (Sample 2)The main objective of this study is to

ascertain the level of disclosure of segmental information in the corporate annual reports of public listed companies in Malaysia. This objective is further divided into sub-objectives. The first is to empirically examine the reporting practice of segmental disclosure.

This objective will address the following questions:

1.3 Objectives of the Study (Sample 3)The aims of this research are to identify the

critical success factors to IBS implementation and develop a framework which guides transformation of contractors from conventional to IBS. To achieve this aim, the following objectives have been derived:

…To investigate the state of IBS uptake in Malaysia,

as well as the drivers, barriers, policies and chronology of adoption.

To determine and document the critical success factors to IBS using literature reviews and case studies.

…

1.3 Objectives of the Study (Sample 4)The aim of this project is to develop a flexible

and streocontrolled synthesis of lactacystin and its analogues.

1.3 Objectives of the Study (Sample 5)This study sets out to investigate CSR

disclosures in annual reports from plantation companies in Malaysia. The objectives are set as the following:

1.3.1 To explore the extent and the trend of CSR

disclosures of plantation companies1.3.2 To identify the major themes of CSR disclosures of plantation companies

1.3 Objectives of the Study1.3.3 To observe the relationship

between CSR disclosure and the performance of plantation companies in terms of profitability.

1.3.4 To observe the relationship between CSR disclosure and company size in terms of market capitalization

Definition of TermsThe old concept merely views genres as

focussing on the forms of text or the textual features of a text. The new concept of genre, on the other hand, views genres as social actions (Miller, 1994), the typified ways of purposefully interacting in and among some activity system(s) (Russell, 1997). Quoting Bazerman (1994), Russell (1997) further stresses that genres are “forms of life, ways of being and frames for social action. They are environments for learning” (and teaching) (p 513) placing genres as powerful elements of social actions.

Definition of Terms

An annual report of a company is the most commonly accepted and recognized corporate communication vehicle. The contents of an annual report are largely determined by members of the top management and therefore reflect management beliefs (Bettman et al., 1983). In addition to serving as legitimating devices, annual reports can be seen as strategic documents that project selective impressions about the activities of a company (Abrahamson and Park, 1994; Barr et al., 1992; Bowman, 1976).

Scope of the StudyThe scope of this research is limited to the

study of corporations in Malaysia and to two aspects of segmental reporting as outlined in the objectives of the research. It involves a cross-sectional study of corporate annual reports for the financial year ending …

Scope of the Study (Research Boundary and Limitations the scope of the study will be focused on the

critical success factors and development of the framework with regard to the followings:

The terms, definitions and classifications of IBS will be used throughout the research to represent the concept of industrialisation, although there are a lot of other terms which have been used elsewhere.

Among the Malaysian construction stakeholders, the research will only focus on the perspective of contractors registered under class G7. Class G7 contractors are ...

Scope of the StudyThis study undertakes to analyse annual

reports of plantation companies in Malaysia. The focus is in Malaysia because it has been reported in CSR Asia News Review: January-March 2005 that the awareness of CSR disclosure among players in the plantation industry is lacking. These annual reports were retrieved from the Malaysian Bourse (Bursa Malaysia) published within 5 years between 2001 and 2005. The period between 2001 and 2005 was chosen as there was no recession reported during this time frame.

1.6 Scope of the Study (con’t)

The companies selected are those listed on the main board as these companies are known to have a good reputation in market value and size. In total, there are 44 plantation companies listed on the main board in Malaysia but of the 44, only 29 companies consistently publish their annual reports.

The scope of the study will include identifying the advantages of CSR disclosures and the effects to the plantation industry. The study also looks at popular themes of disclosure in the companies’ annual reports.

Significance of the StudyThe present study embarks on a genre-based

research from an applied linguistic perspective. The first significance of this study is in the choice of genre. The study attempts to investigate (university) brochures which are considered as a common type of publication but in actual fact are the least written about (Bivins and Ryan, 1991). Brochures are generally categorised a professional genre under PR, a profession which is significantly lacking in linguistic research. As brochures are also considered as a promotional genre, this study will contribute to the literature of linguistic analysis in both professional and promotional genres.

Significance of the Study (Expected Contribution to Accounting Knowledge)

Segmental disclosure studies, in general, have been scarce in the context of developing countries or more specifically, in emerging markets. Most of the studies in this area have used data on developed countries, such as the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. This research has contributed to knowledge by extending segmental disclosure studies to Malaysia, as a progressive emerging market.

Significance of the StudyOn policy implication, this research has

contributed to knowledge having examined the state of segmental disclosure practice of Malaysian companies, which could contribute to the debate on segment disclosure in the country. This is important because the proposed new international standard on reporting financial information by segment, is in its later stages of implementation. Malaysia as a member of the IASC would be expected at some stage to adopt the International Accounting Standard.

Significance of the StudyMany studies have been conducted which

examine CSR in annual reports but most of these studies are more concerned about the company size and profitability (Giacomo and Kamales, 2005). Most of the studies only concentrate on foreign companies and do not include the plantation industry. This study, on the other hand, will focus on the community activities and environmental effects because they are more relevant to the plantation industry. It is hoped that the findings of this study will contribute to the literature on how plantation companies create awareness about their environment and what social activities they do to contribute to society and the environment.